Lumos Obscurum
by CelestialHarmony
Summary: COMPLETE. When a Slytherin girl thought to have been dead from the Battle of Hogwarts shows up very much alive now Ministry Auror Neville must come to terms with the ghosts of his past and the difficulties of his current situation. OC/Neville.
1. Chapter 1: The Boy who Became an Auror

_Chapter One _

Neville hummed to himself as he took off his brown suit jacket and hung it on the back of the door to his office in the Ministry of Magic. The morning was starting off great already and he had high hopes for the rest of the day.

"Mornin', Trevor." He called to the toad that was sitting on top of the personalized terrarium along the left hand wall by his desk. The amphibian gave a croak of a greeting and Neville grinned and moved over to feed him, letting loose a few crickets into the enclosure.

"What do you say we see what the agenda has in store today?" He asked and put the toad inside before closing the door and moving to his cluttered desk to start sorting out some papers. In his pocket, he felt the warm vibration of the Remembrall that his grandmother had given him.

Taking it out, he looked it over, watching the red cloud inside a moment swirling to tell him he had forgotten something. before he shook his head and put it away again. He never could remember what he was supposed to be remembering.

"Mr. Longbottom?" Came a voice from the door and Neville lifted his eyes from the scattered mess of papers.

"Yes, Tara? Come in…" He spoke as he recognized the voice of the assistant assigned to himself and other aurors and slowly, she stepped inside.

She was a quiet young woman, a little older than him in her late twenties, but she was still quite lovely. Her hair was cut short and mousy brown, spiked out with short bangs on her forehead. She had graduated from Beauxbatons.

"What do you need, Tara?" He asked, wondering just what her presence in his office meant this morning.

"You're needed downstairs, Sir. There was an attack and Weasley managed to catch one of the dark witches…"

"They caught one alive?" He was a little stunned at that for sure, but he got up from his desk, grabbing his jacket and wand as he made his way with Tara to the elevators and the holding area that Ministry had downstairs.

At the bottom floor, Ronald met him and nodded to him before leading the way down the dim hall to a room.

"Sorry to call you down here, Nev, but we thought you might want to be a part of this. See it for yourself…"

"You and Harry usually handle the interrogations…what's up this time?"

"It's not so much what we caught as who…" Ron nudged him towards the door and inside. Inside there were a couple chairs against the wall, the room itself was slender, maybe four feet by ten feet long. In front of the chairs was a large window, the two way glass that looked into the interrogation room. There was a soundproofing spell on the observation room as well.

At the moment, all Neville could see was the back of Harry Potter's messy black manned head and a little of the table beyond, but little else.

"We checked your wand already. You call to not be a dark witch, so do you care to explain why your last spell was a curse that causes intense internal bleeding?" Harry confronted the dark witch.

"I had to defend myself." A shock went through Neville as he heard the voice. "I was being attacked."

The voice was so familiar and when Harry stepped to the side away from the window, Neville felt his heart drop into his stomach like a lead weight as he got his first look at the girl in the room.

She had aged since the last time he had seen her. Bags under her eyes darkened her green eyes and made her skin much paler than he recalled. She looked tired…weary. Once neatly combed dark chestnut hair was now messy and sticking out from a tussled long braid that fell to her mid back. She looked more like her mother now that she was older and that was a truly horrifying thought.

"So you decided to curse your attackers enough to nearly kill them?"

"What was I suppose to do?" Her voice was worn down, shaky. He wondered how long they had been questioning her. "I defended myself and that's my story. I'm not even a part of this world anymore, Harry. I gave it up and moved to London to get away from all this."

"You kept your wand." He pointed out with a smirk and Lyra shook her head in annoyance with him not understanding her. "You mentioned something about going to London earlier. You ran away there to try life as a muggle, correct?"

The girl gave a slow nod.

"Everyone thought you had died at the castle during the last battle. Why didn't you stick around after Voldemort's defeat? It looks a bit fishy that you ran off when he was gone…like you were avoiding something. You never even finished the last year of schooling."

"I had to…" She whispered and took a deep breath. It was then that Neville noted her bound hands behind the back of the chair. They were not taking any chances with her.

"You alright, Neville?" Ron asked from next to him and Neville slowly nodded to him.

"Yeah…just kinda…shocked."

Ron chuckled at that. "I know, right? Who would have thought…I mean, I always kind of thought she was a bit off…but really a dark witch? Guess you really can judge people by the look of 'em. If it quacks like a duck, right?" He smirked and patted Neville on the back as Harry came from the room beyond. Nodding to them both in greeting, he shut the door behind him firmly.

"We caught her near Grimmauld Place with several other dark wizards, but they gave us the slip. All but her. I didn't believe it was Lyra at first, I didn't want to…but there she is. I thought you said she was dead, Neville?" Harry asked the last after he had filled him in a little.

Neville was thoughtful for a moment at that, remembering back to that battle. "I thought she had been killed by Amycus Carrow…I guess I was wrong…"

Harry gave him an odd look at that before glancing back at Lyra in the interrogation room. She was sitting still, shutting her eyes for a moment tiredly. "She's claiming innocence still on the charges, but I don't know really what to do from here. She was definitely using dark magic, we can prove that, but for what reason is the question. It could really be that she used the spell to defend herself…"

"Have you talked to Kingsley?" Neville asked curiously, wondering what the Minister of Magic would want them to do.

Harry nodded to him slowly. "I did. He wants us to investigate this further and see if she's telling the truth or not. I'm to head to London and check where she says she's been working and living, see if anyone actually knows about her. I need you to make sure she stays put until we get things figured out."

"You…you want me to play babysitter for her? Harry, I can't…you know who she is…"

Harry put a hand up at that. "No, Neville, I want you to do the job I've given you. You will keep an eye on her and I know you'll do it well because of your…history. You're good at what you do, Neville, or else I wouldn't put this on your shoulders…"

Neville let out a heavy sigh to that and nodded once more before he went to the door and turned the handle. He needed to collect his charge.

As he entered the room, Lyra lifted her head, expecting Harry to be returning for another round of questions. She was thrown off though when she saw Neville standing before her. Her eyes searched his face with uncertainty, her skin flushing even more.

"Neville…" She whispered softly, stunned to see him of all people as an auror.

Neville gave her a nod of greeting in return. "Lestrange."


	2. Chapter 2: The Girl who Became a Muggle

Chapter Two 

"Have you come to send me off to Azkaban yourself then, Longbottom?" Lyra asked from her seat across from him, her eyes running over the man that she had once attended school with at Hogwarts. He was a year older than her and had sprouted up quite a bit, but like one of the plants she recalled him loving so much.

Neville felt one corner of his mouth twist up in a smirk at her words. Merlin, she was presumptuous. He would let her stew though for now with her thoughts. Slowly, he settled into the seat in front of her, taking a moment as well to truly absorb her appearance.

The past few years had changed her quite a bit from what he remembered. Her once rosy cheeks were now hollow, bruised. Her eyes held dark bags under them. What had once been brilliant china blue eyes were now dull and steely. Her jaw was sharper, but more like her mother's. She not only looked older, she looked ill.

Something was wrong with her and he knew it was there under the surface…but what? Despite his dislike of her, he felt called to do something for her, but what? He shook his head, telling himself to put the lid back on that pot.

"Should I be sending you there, Lestrange?" He asked, watching her roll her eyes in annoyance.

"No. I'm not working with any Dark Wizards. Those people tried to kill me and I'm the one here getting interrogated?"

"You were the only one that they caught. Hence you being the only one getting interrogated."

She scoffed lightly at that. "Because I wasn't running."

He mused over that for a moment, thinking to himself. She did have a point. "I've heard your plea for innocence already, Lestrange. It still doesn't prove anything. You say you've been hiding in London these past few years. Why then, would these Dark Wizards seek you out to kill you?" He questioned.

"If I knew I would have told Potter when he was here." She shrugged, sitting back in her seat.

He shrugged back at her. That meant nothing to him. Her family were amongst the worst liars. She was descended from the Blacks, after all.

She eyed him at his indifference and then slowly shook her head. Of course he wouldn't believe her. She should have known he would be the least likely to ever believe her. "I've lived in London for the past five years as a Muggle."

"Doing what exactly?" He pressed curiously, waiting for her explanation, but she pursed her lips lightly together. He waited a moment before pressing again. "Well?"

"It's none of your business." She said curtly, looking away from him and the force of her words made him blink lightly. She was holding something back.

He sat back and watched her, waiting for her to continue still, but she was looking bad, paler now. She shifted in her seat restlessly, trying to scratch her wrists in the ropes that held them tied behind her chair.

"Well, then I guess I should send word ahead for them to get a cell ready for you…" He said as he went to stand up and leave, but she snapped at him, interrupting him.

"Prostitution…Happy now?" She said flatly and that made Neville instantly stop and turn to look at her, waiting for else she might be about to say. "I've been working as a prostitute for the past year…I was going to college, but the bills got too high…I couldn't keep up…"

He was silent, but then tilted his head. "Why not just get a part time job?"

She sighed lightly. "It was my boyfriend's idea. We were smoking pot one night and he suggested a friend joining us and letting him pay…and then it just started turning into something else." She muttered, obviously not proud of herself and it dawned on him then what was wrong with her.

"When was the last time you used?" He asked gently, moving close to where she sat at the table and she shook her head slowly, not wanting to admit to it, so he pressed again. "What have you been using and when was the last hit?"

Her eyes were rolling with tears and he saw that she was in pain…that she was hurting, but it was not a true physical pain. It was the pain of withdrawal. Full body aches that went down her back, through her muscle and bone and organs. It called her, tore through her. "Seven hours…" She finally whispered and he sighed lightly.

No wonder she looked do ill. She was deep in the throes of withdrawal by now. He told her to sit tight as he excused himself and left the room, telling Ron to keep an eye on her while he was away.

It didn't take long for him to find the bottle he was looking for in his herb cabinet in his office and then he apparated back to the viewing room outside the interrogation room once more.

Ron gasped lightly at him and glared. "Merlin's sake, Neville!" He yelled to the auror as he moved past him into the room once more.

Lyra was right where he had left her at the table, but her cheek was now resting on the cool table, no doubt to ease the pounding that was now in her head. He sighed and opened the container, the cork popping lightly as he pulled it out and then fished for a piece of black root that was inside. Moving closer to her and held it to her lips.

"Eat it, Lestrange. It'll help with the withdrawal." He told her and when she snubbed it, refusing to eat, he sighed and forced it into her mouth, forcing her to chew even as she fought him. "Swallow it, Lyra…"

She shook her head a moment in refusal, but when he didn't release her, she struggled it down with a hard swallow and a grimace, feeling sick the moment it when down her throat. "Ugh, what was that?" She groaned, disgusted with the taste.

Neville chuckled lightly at that and held up the bottle. "Azadane root. It helps relieve the edge of the withdrawals and gets the toxins out of your body quicker…" He offered lightly as he reached down for her hands to help haul her to her feet before started to undo her bindings.

"You're letting me go?" She asked lightly and again he lightly laughed to himself.

"Not really…" He told her, guiding her to walk to the door and out into the viewing area where Ron was waiting, he took her wand from the red-headed Weasley, putting it into his back pocket with his own.

She eyed them both curiously. "Where are we going then?"

"Somewhere safe until Harry can check into your story…" Neville told her lightly before leading her off down the hall toward the elevators. He also wanted to make sure that they found out who this boyfriend was that had taken such a girl and pulled her down this far…

He had a feeling deep down in his gut as well, that he was going to regret this task. After all, if this boyfriend was to blame for her current condition, then so was he.


	3. Chapter 3: The Girl who had Died

Chapter Three

As they stepped into Neville's office, Lyra became aware of something very important about Neville himself. He had not changed very much at all since school. The boy that loved herbology and plants and could talk incessantly about the two had his office scattered with all sorts of books on the matter of planting, growing, and practical uses for all types of flora.

The office itself was dim save for two lamps. One glowing dimly over the desk and another glowing a bit more brightly and warmly over the terrarium on the left hand wall that was filled halfway with water and built so that it was a brilliant display like in a zoo. One where he could watch his pet swimming and soaking up sun light.

Behind the desk were books on magical law and more on herbological studies on the shelves. Some curiously enough even baring Neville's name on the spine with other contributors. He was clearly making something of his love for all things plant based. She had to smile at the thought as she ran her hand over the glass of the terrarium idly. Once she was done inspecting it, she turned to see Neville eyeing her and she flushed a bit as she went to take a seat in front of his desk as he got what he had come for.

Before she could sit however, she noticed the necklace dangling from the owl perch on the desk before her and she gently touched it, lifting the butterbeer cork that dangled from it. "This…this was Luna's…" She whispered lightly and Neville glanced down at the necklace.

"Yeah…she gave it to me at the funeral." He told her softly from where he stood, putting his hands in his pockets nervously. This was going to be a touchy subject. How did one talk about this to someone who was supposed to be dead?

"Who's funeral…?" She asked the inevitable question and a glance to him made her sigh heavily as she sank into the seat across from his desk. "My funeral?"

He nodded lightly and took a seat. "Actually, it was at Tonks and Lupin's…"

"I can't believe they're actually gone…" She muttered and her eyes took on a far off look. "Nymphadora was like my sister. When my aunt took me in, she was the only one that was really kind to me. Everyone else was kind of…scared." She leaned back in the chair at the memories of her past. She had never really let herself get emotional about the battle…about the loss. Even now she felt numb.

Finally, she looked to him again. "What about Teddy? He must be what…five now?"

"He just turned six about a week ago…Your aunt Andromeda is taking care of him now, but he spends a lot of time with his Godparents."

"Harry got married?" She asked and he nodded once more.

"To Ginny Weasley right after school." He told her and she smiled at that to herself lightly.

"I always knew those two were good for each other…"

Neville couldn't help but smile with her at that. She was right. Ginny and Harry were the perfect balance. A thought occurred to him then, however. "Speaking of your aunt, she is going to want to see you. I mean…she buried you, Lyra. We really need to contact her." He reached for some parchment and started to reach for his quill and ink, but Lyra was already on her feet, stopping his hand with her own, which she quickly withdrew.

"No, Neville…she won't want to hear from me after what I did…I caused her enough problems." She said and to that, he had to frown. There was sadness in her eyes, but he knew her aunt would want to know she was alive and well. What could she have done so bad to make her aunt not want to know she was alive? For now thought, he humored her and set the quill back down.

"Lyra, I know things happened in the past, but…" He really had not idea where he was going with this at all. "She buried you…she grieved for you. And not just you…Tonks and Lupin, even her own sister and niece. She lost a lot in that battle."

"I will tell her, Neville, just…not yet." She muttered and sat back down in her seat for a long, quiet moments. Finally, when she spoke again, she didn't look up at her next question. "What was it like…my funeral?"

He felt uncomfortable with this sort of question. What must it be like asking what it was like to be mourned and put in the ground. Then…without a body it had just been an empty casket they had laid to rest.

"It was….quiet. There weren't many people there. Some of the Slytherin's came. Draco was actually there with his parents…but it was more to show their own atonement after the battle…they went to a lot of the funerals…Molly even allowed them at Fred's." He told her lightly, watching her silent reactions. "Minerva spoke well of you as did the other teachers. Slughorn cried because you would never be in his club…They held it at Shiloh Grove, near where you grew up. There's a grave there for you."

"Did you go?" She asked and he eyed her a moment, finding himself in an instant lie.

"No…No, actually I was spending some time with my parents at St. Mungo's that day. Hermione and Ron told me about it though…" He said, knowing full well the truth. He had gone that day, had sat there to try and pay his own penance for what he had done at the school during the battle. He would never be able to pay for doing something so horrible. Every time he visited the grave, he was reminded that though he never cast a curse to kill her…he had all but sealed her fate.

It was his fault.

And now, she was alive…right here before him. He just wondered if she knew what had really happened that night in the castle.

Lyra nodded slowly to his words at that. Of course he wouldn't have come to her funeral. He of all people would never be someone she expected there. He had never liked her…all through school, he had been a mix of angry, scared, and hateful toward her.

Remembering back to her first year, she had bumped into a group of boys on the train on her way to find her cousin Draco. She had introduced herself and the pudgy blond had all but fainted right there. He had gone white as an egg, his eyes wide in his skull. The second year had been terrified of her and it wasn't until she figured out just who he was and recalled what Aunt Andromeda had told her about her parents and just why they were in prison. She had pieced it all together…

For a long time, they were uncomfortable again in the silence that hung heavy around them, but both were unsure just how to break it. When Neville was finally about to speak again, a knock interrupted him, rousing both from their thoughts.

"Must be Tara…" He muttered and got up to answer the door, but it was already being pushed abruptly open.

"Neville!" He blinked at the sound of the stern old voice that he knew so well.

"Gran?" He asked, looking at the woman that pushed herself into the room in a huff. She was a larger woman, stuffed into a deep violet dress that buttoned up the front. A green brooch was on her lapel at her large breast. Her hat was large with purple and green ostrich and hippogriff feathers spilling over the brim in all directions. On her arm was a bright green bag.

"Gran, what in the world are you doing here?" He asked as he went towards her to get her bag, but she raised her hand to stop him speaking. Her eyes already on the girl that was getting to her feet.

"Who is that, Neville?" She asked as her stern eyes narrowed, but before Neville could answer her, Augusta had already drew her wand in realization.

"Gran, stop! Put that down!" Neville pushed the older woman's wand up as she fired a curse at Lyra, the curse just missing Lyra's cheek by mere inches. "She's already under arrest, Gran, put it away." He demanded.

"Don't you know who she is, Neville? What she did to our family! To your parents!" She screamed and Neville sighed, pushing her back to the door as Lyra backed away from them as well behind the desk. Smart girl. His Gran could be quite frightening.

"I'm aware, but it's already under control. I'll get Ron to take you back upstairs…you don't need to be here." He told her and tried to herd her back to the door, but she was far from willing to leave just yet.

"Why isn't she in Azkaban! She's a Snake, Neville! Just like her viper of a mother! I'll kill her myself!"

When she raised her wand again to attack Lyra, Neville knocked her hand aside to block the curse from being cast and let the wand hit the floor. It wasn't his Gran's red wood that hit the floor, but a longer, oak wand. The woman was quick and as the wand distracted him, she had grabbed for the wand from his pocket and pulled it, aiming it for his chest.

His grandmother was definitely not that fast. He backed up a step, looking to the wand at his chest and she ordered him to back up, but he refused. When he didn't get out of the way, she fired a curse at him that sent him flying backward over his desk, knocking Lyra back with him, and into the shelf behind his desk. As the books started to fall around him, he groaned, taking hits from them in the head and he went down to the ground in a heap.

Lyra scrambled back from the falling books and to the right-side of the room, trying to get to the wand on the ground, but Augusta was on her in an instant, her hand reaching out and grabbing her by the throat.

"Are you ready to die, Lyra?" The old woman asked and Lyra gasped, trying to get free, but her hand was strong. Her eyes rolled up to look at her, seeing her grey hair starting to turn an inky black. Her eyes starting to turn beady behind her glasses, like a rats dark eyes.

"W-who are you?" Lyra choked out, trying to breath around the pressure on her throat. The woman had to be one of the Dark Wizards. How had she gotten into the Ministry? Obviously polyjuice, but were there not systems in place to stop something like this?

"Who I am now doesn't matter…but who I will be once you're dead. Once your blood is spilled, our power will become infinite." The woman laughed darkly and started to strangle her harder and raised her wand to her face, preparing to use no doubt the killing curse on her.

Lyra tried to ask her why she had to kill her, what she had to do with anything, but she couldn't get a breath now. Her vision was darkening as she scrambled to get free, but the witch was crushing her windpipe. She felt like she might pass out when she finally heard a yell from behind her.

"Expelliarmus!" The cry went out from Neville as he got to his feet, bleeding from scrapes and cuts on his face and neck. The wand in the hand of his fake grandmother went flying from her fingers and the woman snarled, grabbing Lyra up and pulled her back against her chest, still choking her until Lyra was almost blacking out.

"Think you're going to save the day, Longbottom? She has to die!" She yelled, but Neville wasn't going to sit back and watch this. He jumped over the desk and lunged at them both, grabbing "Augusta" around the waist and threw her to the side into the glass terrarium.

She slammed into the tank, the glass shattering and water flooding the floor. Trevor jumped from the tank and onto her face, knocking her hat off to reveal her now long, inky hair. As she screamed and clawed at him to try and pull the toad from her face, she flopped in the water on the floor.

Lyra coughed hard, but she quickly got to her feet and snatched Trevor up before he could get hurt as Neville stepped behind her and cast ropes to restrain the dark witch. Lyra backed away with the toad in hand.

"Lyra, go find Ron…quickly."

Lyra blinked at his words, still trying to calm her breathing. "But…"

"Now!" He snapped at her, keeping his wand leveled on the dark witch before her, not sure what this woman could do…but he didn't want to chance it. Once Lyra was gone, he finally spoke to the captive before him.

"Tell me what you want with her." He demanded and she spat at him like a cobra.

"I will tell you nothing, auror. Spare me your questions." She snarled and he narrowed his eyes lightly.

"You will talk…now why is it you want to kill her so badly?" He pressed.

"I will talk? I think not…" She laughed darkly. "What will you do to me, auror? Curse me? Hex me? You don't scare me, Longbottom."

He pressed his wand between her eyes. "Don't try me…I have used killing curses before. I won't ask again…"

She snarled against at him through her teeth. "She must die."

"Why?" He pressed harder, narrowing his eyes on her rat like irises. She licked her lips challengingly, keeping silent and Neville pulled back his wand. "Ava-" He started to say the curse and she screamed at that, finally breaking with the threat of him killing her in the air.

"Going to talk then?" He raised his brows waiting for her to speak and she hissed in annoyance. "Why are you trying to kill her?"

"For us to gain power, she must be killed. The blood of her father runs in her veins…it must be spilled."

"Why not just go after Rudolphus in Azkaban then?" He perked a brow in confusion. What did he have to do with any of this?

The witch chuckled darkly. "You believe Rudolphus still to be her father? Naive boy…" She laughed at him at that. "She is no more his child than I am your mother, boy…"

"And who is her father then?" He asked warily, glancing to the woman's face in confusion.

She flashed her blackened, crooked teeth at him. "Who do you think, Longbottom? Bellatrix was married to Rudolphus Lestrange, but she was always His favorite lieutenant to the Death Eaters…" She chuckled as Neville's eyes widened and he pulled back at that, not really sure he liked that suggestion. It wasn't possible.

Ron was rushing in seconds later with Hermione in the next second and he stepped back in shock to let them handle things. He explained all that had happened, save for the last that she had told him and he glanced to the side as Ron and Hermione got her completely under control and started her up on her feet to take her to the holding area until they could figure out what was really going on.

He could see Lyra standing outside the door in the hallway, looking down at the toad still held in her hands in silence. It couldn't be. If Rudolphus wasn't her father and what the Dark Witch was saying was true…

He didn't want to think about it right now, but he could not ignore the thought that Lyra, like Harry had been, could possibly be a Horcrux for Voldemort.


	4. Chapter 4: The Boy who said too Much

Chapter Four

Neville's apartment was small, filled with plants and tanks of slugs and worms. The ceiling of the top floor housing was mostly glass to allow in the sunshine for the plants. The carpet was gone and the floor held trenches to keep everything watered as well as dry. Enchanted water jugs were busy watering the pots as they walked inside.

Trevor was released to roam the jungle like room as Neville lead Lyra to another room. Inside, there were not as many pots and plants, but there were more comforts for humans.

There was an old couch against the wall, a black and white TV, and a short table that was lacking two legs, but was supported crookedly by two large empty clay pots. A kitchen sat off in the back corner of the apartment filled with suspended trays of herbs and cooking spices that were overgrowing a bit. There was also a small hall that led to Neville's room and a bathroom.

He headed down the hall to his room first, taking out some clothing to change into as well as something for Lyra to change her clothing as well. Without a word to her, he stepped out of the room and handed her the folded clothing before slipping into the bathroom to search for his first aid kit.

He knew he had one. He always kept one around incase of accidents. With some of the thorny plants, injury was inevitable.

When he did find it, he set to work with the cuts on his face and arms, putting peroxide on a rag and hissing lightly as it fizzed on his cheek. He cringed lightly and looked himself over in thought. What was he going to do now? He had Lyra Lestrange in his apartment.

A Lestrange. The idea disturbed him still.

She was a Slytherin, a possible Dark Witch, and she was sleeping on his couch. Harry had to be mental giving him this damn assignment. He would definitely be glad when Harry got back so he could be as far away from the girl again as he could.

"Does it hurt?" Lyra asked suddenly from no where, making him jump from his skin.

"Merlin's beard! Lyra…you scared the hell out of me." He gasped as he dropped the rag in the sink and glanced over at her. His eyes wandering her figure instantly.

He had loaned her an old Quidditch Jersey from the Leeds United Bullfrogs. The green fabric mostly swallowed her thin frame, nearly hiding the shorts that he had loaned her as it his her at mid thigh. The sleeves were huge, swamping her hands until her finger tips were all that were visible.

A blush rushed into his cheeks at the sight of her. She looked…hot.

What was he thinking! He must have taken a worse knock to the head than he thought.

"May I?" She asked lightly with a smile as she stepped into the bathroom with him and picked up the rag and peroxide, pouring more onto it.

"Umm, I…I…don't- I mean…t-thanks." He stammered as she moved to him and he leaned back lightly on the bathroom sink while she peppered his cuts and scrapes, pausing at his lips and a bit of blood there before she blushed and went to get a couple bandages for the worst cut on his cheek.

He watched her work, taking out the bandages and applying them to his cheek. Her touch was so gentle…so caring. He swallowed hard, cursing himself when she looked up at him through her lashes.

Damn, his mouth was hanging open.

She eyed him a moment and then softly smiled, lifting her head up to bring her lips closer to his. He looked so flustered…so confused. She wondered if he had kissed a girl yet… He had always been so awkward in school.

Just as she was about to kiss him, put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her, pushing her lightly away from him. "Lyra, don't…" He whispered and she leaned back on her feet, eyeing him as if hurt.

"What's wrong?" She asked lightly and he shook his head, cleaning up the first aid supplies.

"I'm not interested." He told her and she looked completely confused. Was he interested in girls at all? She scoffed and moved out of the bathroom in a huff. The way he had looked at her…he had been begging for her to kiss him!

And she had wanted to as well… Sighing, she slipped off toward the living room.

Neville let her go, running a hand up into his hair before he shut the door to shower. He couldn't kiss her. She saw sex as a form of payment. He didn't want her paying him back in anyway by kissing him or anything more. He wouldn't indulge her…or himself.

After a shower, he slipped back out into the apartment in a pair of boxer shorts and a shirt from his favorite band Devil's Snare. He took some time setting up wards around the apartment to keep them protected for the night.

Lyra was sitting on the couch, Trevor having taken up a perch on her knee, croaking lightly as she stroked her finger between his eyes and down his back over and other at a lazy pace.

"He seems to like me." She noted as Neville returned from outside and he eyed her and the toad a moment before shrugging.

"Yeah, I guess." He muttered lightly before shifting on his feet nervously. "You'll umm…be sleeping on the couch. I'd offer up my room, but I keep Deadly Nocturne Flowers in there. They need the dark and are pretty familiar with me already. They might attack you."

She cringed at that. "You don't have many women over, I take it." She said lightly.

He shot her a glare at that. "It's none of your business, but I've had plenty of girlfriends since school. They just don't sleep over here."

"Oh, C'mon…" She smirked at that as if she knew he was lying and that made him mad, his neck and ears flaring red. "I bet you're still a virgin."

"Better a virgin than a whore." He snapped and she stopped smiling at that, looking up to him from the couch. Even Trevor had gone silent, looking to him.

He cursed inwardly for saying it…but it was out. How did he take it back now?

She finally looked away far him, petting Trevor again softly, her eyes lingering over the amphibian's smooth skin. "Is that why you wouldn't kiss me?" She asked and he narrowed his eyes at the words.

Is that what she thought? He didn't know what to say…

Letting out a small, sad laugh, she lifted Trevor off her knee and put him in a plant next to the couch before she laid down on the couch and turned her back on him.

He had hurt her, he knew that…but he just couldn't get his tongue to form an apology. Standing there a moment longer, he finally reached for the light to turn it out before he headed down the hall for his room for the night.


	5. Chapter 5: The Boy who Hated Eggs

Chapter Five

The next morning Lyra was up and dressed before him and he found her in the kitchen trying to find something. He arched a brow as he stepped over to the counter, tilting his head as he observed her.

"What are you looking for?" He asked curiously, leaning on the counter and she startled a little before calming down. Offering him a small smile, she looked toward his fridge.

"Eggs…I didn't see any in there. I wanted to make some breakfast…" She told him lightly.

He shrugged lightly. "I don't eat eggs. Never liked them."

"Oh…" She whispered, standing in his kitchen nervously now, not sure what to do. He didn't like eggs…what was she going to do now? She had wanted to start things off on the right foot by making them breakfast.

"How about bacon?" He asked, knowing she was a little down and she blinked as he stepped around and helped her dig out a package from the freezer and some sausage as well.

She smiled to that and nodded, taking both as she fished out some frying pans. Once she had them ready, he flicked his wand to set the burners off and got the bread out for toast and jam. They worked at cooking together, moving around the kitchen together. He got out two glasses and poured them some juice that was the squeezing itself from oranges on the counter.

His stomach was growling by the time it was all ready, all but salivating for the home made breakfast. He hadn't had something home cooked since he lived with his Gran. He was sure there was nothing overly fantastic done to the food, but he had to admit it was better than most meals he had had outside of Hogwarts.

Maybe it was just because he hadn't cooked it himself…or burned it.

They stayed silent as they sat on the stools at the counter and ate together. Once they were done, Lyra got up to start cleaning up the plates, but he reached out to stop her.

"Hey, you cooked, let me handle these." He told her and she tried at first to tell him it was okay, that she got it, but something in his gaze stopped her. He was staring at her arm.

She swallowed and let him take the plates.

"Lyra…what is that?" He asked, setting the dirty plates down on the counter again and he reached for her arm. She tried to pull away from him, but he was quicker, pulling her arm out of his reach.

"It's nothing…" She whispered softly and he sighed, snatching her left wrist and pulled the sleeve of her sweater up to her elbow.

"Like Hell it's nothing…" He muttered, eyeing the scar on her forearm in disbelief. If he didn't know what he was looking at, he would have sworn it was a scar of the Dark Mark, but this was different. It was in fact the snake and skull, but it was neither magically marked nor enchanted.

He stared at it for a long moment before looking up to her. Her eyes were forced away from both the mark and him, staring off out the window. "What is this, Lyra?" He asked again, but when she refused to answer, he squeezed her wrist until she groaned. "Lyra, tell me what the yell this is doing on your arm?"

She whimpered lightly before shutting her eyes. "I got it in my fourth year from Umbridge as a punishment…" She told him and he instantly let her go.

"Why would she do that to you? You were a Slytherin…" He said in disbelief.

She stepped back from him against the counter. "Because I stood up against the lies that she and the Ministry were trying to feed us that year. Their attempts to silence the rumors that Voldemort had come back. Tonks believed Harry and so did I…not that you would have noticed."

He cast her a small glare at that, but she continued talking.

"I spoke up in class one day and during my detention in her office I was asked about my parents and their connection to Voldemort. I told her and she accused me of being in league with them. That I was trying to spread fear and nonsense. Instead of lines, she had me draw the Dark Mark. Over and over." She rubbed the raised scar on her wrist lightly. "When I got too deep, I started bleeding a lot…she had me keep going though. It was only when I passed out that she called for help." She sighed softly.

"Madame Pomphrey would have told Dumbledore…" He insisted in horror and she shook her head slowly, looking back to him.

"She sent for Snape. He took care of the wound and the blood loss, but he warned me not to tell anyone about what had happened and to just playing Umbridge's game." She sighed heavily and rubbed the scar again lightly. "When I was drawing it, Umbridge told me that bad blood runs in some of us…that we are tainted from birth by it and to be good we have to punish ourselves for the sins that our blood has committed…"

Neville eyed her, realizing she was crying now and he stepped towards her, brushing a hand against her cheek. "Lyra…Lyra, you are not responsible for the crimes your parents committed…" He assured her and she sobbed harder.

Narrowing his eyes, he sighed lightly and pulled her against his chest, holding her there to him as she started to cry.

"You always blamed me for what they did to your parents, Neville, don't lie to me. You always thought I was just as much to blame. That I had cursed them myself! You hated me for being related to them!"

"Yes, I did…and that was wrong…" He told her, stroking her hair lightly. "Did you point the wand that night? Did you use the Cruciatus curse on them yourself?" He asked and when she shook her head, he gently pulled her face away, looking down into her eyes. "I don't blame you, Lyra…"

She shook her head slowly, not believing him and he sighed, pressing his forehead against hers as she heaved for air between sobs.

"Quit blubbering, you silly girl…" He shushed her in annoyance and leaned forward more, pressing his lips to her forehead. "None of it was your fault…you weren't even alive back then…"

He stroked her hair and lead her to the couch where he held her until she stopped crying. Sitting with her on the couch, he pulled her into his lap as he rested back against the arm, holding her body in the safety of his own arms.

What was he thinking? He had never lied like this before, but he just couldn't stand her crying anymore. He hated seeing her like that.

Perhaps that was the most frightening thought that occurred to him.

She was a Slytherin…a snake. Possibly even a Dark Witch.

She could have been the Heir to Slytherin that opened the Chamber of Secrets. He had always thought it was possible. He had even tried in some ways to prove it that year.

When Sirius Black escaped Azkaban, she was looked at with some great interest by Lucius Malfoy, her uncle, spending a lot of time with him and her cousin Draco that summer. Why?

Then there was the Tri-wizard cup. She had been a favorite of Mad-Eye, or Barty Crouch, Jr. as it were, one of the men who had been involved in the torture of his parents. She had assisted him during her free period that year.

The next year she had been out of school a lot after the return of Voldemort, spending a lot of time with her maternal grandmother Black and Aunt Narcissa. Which was suspicious looking back on now. Perhaps she had spent that summer being recruited…

And then there was Dumbledore's death that year after. Everyone blamed the Slytherin's for the battle in the Astronomy Tower though Draco was the one to blame for the Vanishing Cabinet. Yet Lyra had been at the top of his list. She always was at the top of the list of suspects and he had a feeling it was where she always would be.

She was a girl he couldn't trust. A girl he had never cared for in school, a girl that he had spent seven years of his life fearing and then loathing and a girl now resting in his arms and crying herself to sleep.

He shut his eyes at the impact of the situation started to hit him. He had started to doubt just how he felt about this girl. His anger was melting away the more he was with her.

What if she wasn't the bad guy? What if she was telling the truth?

_Merlin, help me._


	6. Chapter 6: The Girl who Knew Regret

Chapter Six

_July 2, 1997. _

"I can't believe that you're really gone." She said out loud as she came to the balcony of the Astronomy Tower. It was a nice day outside, the sun just setting beyond the moors and over the lake. It was a beautiful day…

No day should ever be so lovely in the wake of the disaster that had happened here only days ago. She felt as if a hole had been ripped in her chest, as she knew most of the students at the school no doubt felt as well, but she could not help but feel so terrible.

Albus Dumbledore had been her Headmaster, but he meant so much more to her then that. He believed in her. He trusted her.

He protected her from the beginning.

When she had been born, no one had known that Bellatrix could be pregnant. Aurors from the Ministry had learned of her birth and come to Azkaban to take her away. They had found her in her mother's cell, naked in only a pile of cloth scraps. Dementors were circling her, sucking at her unmoving body, as she had been told. She was near death when they rescued her, her mother screaming at them insanely that they couldn't have it.

It.

That's all she had been to her mother.

And then when her Uncle Lucius had tried to take her in, Albus had been there at the custody hearing, ensuring that she was given to her Aunt Andromeda instead, a supporter of the Order of the Phoenix.

And now he was gone.

"I don't know if you can hear me…" She spoke again, this time as if to Dumbledore himself. She had always felt like she could talk with him if no one else. "I don't know what to do from here on out…the world is going crazy. I mean…I know Potter will be trying to do something to save the day, but I'm just scared that it won't be enough."

Sighing, she rested her arms on the railing, searching the darkening sky above. They had buried Dumbledore that day near the grounds. It seemed so cruel to put him in the cold hard ground… She teared up at the still raw emotion from the funeral.

"I just…what do I do? He's already tried recruiting me…and he has Draco now. Mother is going to want me to be on her side and…I don't know if I can say no. She'll kill me as a blood traitor to the family…"

"You always have the choice to say no, Lestrange." Came a voice from behind her and she quickly turned, her wand drawn, but it lowered as she saw it was Neville standing at the top of the stairs, eyeing her. She sighed again softly.

"It's not that simple, Neville…" She told him, looking back toward the sunset.

"What's not simple about it? They come asking and you tell them no." He told her as he started to walk closer, pausing when she turned on her heels toward him again, this time a bit angry.

"Why did you come up here anyway? Just to see if I was returning to the scene of the crime?" She hissed and he shrugged his indifference.

"I don't really care what you're doing up here. I came to think." He told her and moved past her onto the balcony, looking out over the grounds. "We're all upset that he's gone…" He told her and she eyed him curiously.

"When did you become Mister Grief Specialist?" She asked suspiciously and he glanced to her as he rested his own arms on the railing, though he was taller than she was and had to stoop down a bit.

"I'm trying to be nice, Lestrange." He offered and she rolled her eyes.

"You're never nice to me, Longbottom. What do you want?"

He sighed lightly at that, turning so he could lean back on the railing and look at her fully as she crossed her arms and waited for him to answer her. "I want to know if you're a Death Eater." He asked plainly enough and she stood with her mouth open.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked and when he said it again, she glared so coldly that he felt the chill from it. "I am not, nor will I ever be a Death Eater, Longbottom. And you can go to hell for even suggesting it!"

"And why should I believe you? You're the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange, known Death Eater and right hand of Voldemort. You're not exactly reliable."

She shook her head in disbelief, stepping away from him. She expected him to hex her at any moment, knowing in her own head that she wished she could zap him, but she knew to keep her wand down for now. "I have never done anything to make you think I'm a Death Eater except for having a mother who is one."

"That was enough for Draco to become one." He shrugged and she scoffed at that.

"And I'm not Draco!" She shouted and then turned to step away from him. "You know what, Neville, just think what you want. You've thought badly of me every since my first year here. I didn't even know you who you were and you already hated me. So forgive me for being a bit blunt when I say that you can stick your wand up your-"

"You're really mad, aren't you?" He asked and she stared at him as if spiders were crawling out of his nose and he gave a soft laugh, moving to sit on the balcony so his long, lanky legs could dangle over the edge between posts.

She glared at the back of his head at that, but she found herself waiting for what else he would add. She didn't have to wait long.

"Sometimes I like to daydream that my parents are fine and that we all live together in a little cottage inside an enchanted little garden. I pretend that they still work as Aurors for the Ministry and my dad trains me in the backyard every afternoon in defensive spells so that I might one day be as good as him. And when we're done, we go in for dinner that mom makes from all the things in the garden." He took a deep breath in as if smell the food cooking. "Garlic and Rosemary mash with boiled Burling root and summer squash…"

Lyra listened silently, staying still. For a moment, she wondered if he had lost his mind.

"Do you ever day dream what it would be like…?" He asked her and the question took her a little off guard. She shrugged lightly.

"Why? I know the truth. They're both maniacs…why would I pretend they were something different?"

He chuckled at that lightly. "I suppose, but you know at some point you wished things were different. If you could wave your wand and change it all, what would it be like?"

"My imagination isn't that good…" She offered and he patted the floor next to him for her to join him.

"I'm sure…c'mon…give it a try." He smiled to her and she found herself cautiously moving over to sit with him. For a bit, she had not idea what to say, where to start.

What would be the perfect life for her? What did she dream of?

"Sometimes I wish that they were just…my parents, you know? The only time I've ever really been around my mother aside from a couple run ins in the summer was when I was born. She gave birth to me in the walls of Azkaban…"

He tilted his head at that. He had never known about that. He assumed she was born in her Wizarding hospital at St. Mungo's. "I didn't know that you were born there…"

She nodded slowly. "No one knew she was pregnant, you know? So I really wasn't the healthiest baby in the first place. And then there were the Dementors…" She whispered and his eyes widened at that.

"You mean…The Dementors attacked you as a baby?" He cringed. What must that have done to an infant?

She gave another slow nod. "Yes…but Dumbledore told me that since I was so young that they likely did little real damage. I didn't have enough happiness yet for it to effect me permanently…though I don't always believe that…"

"Is that why…you know…" He trailed off for a moment, "…why you are always so sour-faced?"

"I am not sour-faced!" She hit him reflexively in the arm. "I do smile."

"When was the last time?" He asked in all seriousness and when she went silent, unable to come up with an answer, he moved on a bit. "I guess that's why the Dementor's affect you so much as well…they always were following you when they were here…"

Lyra shrugged to that. "Tonks said it was because they see me as an escapee and they want to finish what was started when I was a baby. I don't know."

He listened to her words. They made sense, he supposed. "Tonk's must have been interesting to grow up with…" He noted and she nodded in agreeance.

"Yeah…interesting is the right word for that. She and Andromeda have been nothing but kind to me…they're good people…" She told him and ran her fingers up into her brown hair as the wind blew it in all directions around her.

Neville watched her curiously, finding his eyes following her hand's movement and then it moved over the strands of her hair in the dimming light. He was a fool if he didn't admit that she was a pretty girl.

"So um…" He tried to get back on the conversation nervously. "I heard you were dating Blaise…how's that going for you?"

"Z-zabini? Are you mental? He's a utterly vain pain in the ass and not to mention-"

Her words were cut off all of a sudden in a way that Lyra never would have expected in a million years. Neville had leaned in after turning his head to face her and pressed his lips to hers in a silencing yet chaste kiss.

She sat there with him on the balcony, their legs dangling out from between the guard rails and their lips pressed in a soft kiss that only lasted a few moments before Neville pulled back, his cheeks flooding with color.

"S-sorry…" He stammered and before he could get up, he found Lyra leaning back towards him and their lips were back together like magnets pulling opposite poles. He shivered and reached up lightly to stroke her long, dark locks as they sat there, but again, it had to come to an end.

Lyra slowly pulled back with a soft sigh of breath, clearly warring with the realization of what she had just done.

Neville. She had just kissed Neville Longbottom. And what was more he had kissed her first.

When he reached for her hand a few moments later, she let him take it, falling silent with him as the darkened sky began to spring forth stars that glittered above. There was really nothing else either of them could think of to say. It was an awkward time sitting there, staring at the stars and holding hands without saying a word.

Finally, though, he got to his feet, helping her up as well. They needed to head downstairs for dinner and what with higher security on the castle, they would be noticed if they dallied any longer.

Smiling softly, Neville reached to tuck a strand of hair behind Lyra's ear and then frowned, noticing her perturbed expression. "Lyra, what is it?"

She glanced up to him at that and shook her head slowly. "Tomorrow, you'll feel differently about that kiss, Neville…" She told him and he smiled to her lightly.

"I doubt that. That was my first real kiss, you know…?"

Morgana, did he know how hard he was making this? She shut her eyes a moment before looking to him once more. "Nothing can ever come of this, Neville. If my mother ever found out…she would have a field day torturing not just you, but me as well…She'd target you."

He sighed at that, tilting her chin up a bit. When did he get so confident? "Let her try, Lyra. I'll like to see the witch try to stand against me. I'm not that scared boy in the Department of Mysteries anymore…I can and I will fight." He promised her.

She took in a deep breath and called on every ounce of strength she had in her to do what she was about to do. "Forgive me…"

"W-what? Why?" He asked and suddenly he saw her wand in her hand and she was twisting it as she uttered a curse softly.

"Obliviate." She whispered and he stared at her a moment in complete shock and betrayal, but the reason for that feeling was quickly lost on him as she erased the last hour from his mind.

Here was the tricky part. "Did you hear what I said, Longbottom? Get the hell out of my way and stay away from me from now on."

Her words were icy and she visibly saw him shiver, even though he no doubt had no clue what was going on. "W-what? What were we talking about?"

"How much of a waste of space you are? Did you miss that or were you off in Longbottom Land like the rest of your family?" She sneered and he narrowed his eyes at that, fists tensing at his side.

"Don't you ever talk about my parents, Lestrange. At least mine aren't Death Eaters and murders." He said through gritted teeth.

"No, they're just insane, aren't they? Bet they don't even know who you are…" She forced past him down the steps as he stood there, seething with anger from her words. How dare she? She had no right to dig at a wound that was still so raw for him. He wanted to curse her…wanted to hex her until she was hurting, but he knew enough to know that that line of hatred would get him no where but trouble.

God, he hated the Lestranges.

Downstairs, Lyra stopped once she got near the Dungeons and she slipped into an alcove to cry out in a terrible sob that made her feel as if her chest had been ripped open with a dull knife. She hated herself for saying such mean things to him, but she knew she couldn't let things continue that route. It meant more pain then she cared to think about for them both.

"I'm so sorry…" She whispered in the darkness as she wrapped her arms around herself, though Neville would never hear the apology.


	7. Chapter 7: The Girl who Told Lies

Chapter Seven

"Lyra, could you hand me that bag over there? The fertilizer?" Neville asked as he was busy at a table in the entry room to his apartment. He lifted out a plant from the soil by the roots and waited for Lyra to pull the bag over while he nestled the plant into a new home in a larger pot.

"What is this stuff? It's really heavy…" Lyra asked him as she pulled the bag up close to him, gagging a bit from the smell.

"Thestral manure and coffee grounds, actually…"

"I thought Thestral's were invisible?" She asked, arching a brow.

He smirked at that. "They are, but their poop isn't."

She laughed and helped him with the plant, looking at the strange, little buds that giggled when they were moved.

"These are Hopping Poppies." He explained, settled the plant in before he started to scoop in the fertilizer.

Lyra had only been staying with him for a few days, but already was growing on him. He had pulled back his temper a bit, tried a little more to help her. The detox was doing wonders for her and he was glad to see her returning color to her cheeks and the hollows leaving her face to the youthful glow he remembered from school.

She might have been an enemy all those years ago, but he had never denied her attractiveness. He was finding it hard not to stare…not to look at her with curious eyes.

As he glanced over now, she had a pail in hand and was busy watering a stand of Smiling Posies. He watched her curiously and couldn't help but smile himself at the sight.

He had been surprised when she had offered that morning to help him with his plants and he had accepted willingly. He couldn't say no. She was trying to be helpful and he found that to be endearing about her.

As she moved to another stand, she caught him watching her and he nervously went back to the replanting the Hopping Poppies.

Moving another plant to another empty, larger pot, he caught his eyes wandering over again and he missed the pot completely when he dropped plant. The Poppies hit the table and the buds shook free and started bouncing off in every direction of the apartment.

"Bugger it!" He cursed and started to try and scoop them up and catch them.

Lyra was at his side quickly, trying to catch them as well and put them back in the pot.

They chased the laughing, bouncing buds around until they were laughing as well, trapping most of them under bowls and pots to keep them from getting away again. Once they were caught, they collapsed back on the floor where they sat, laughing in amusement now that the buds were back under control.

Lyra reached up to take the last remaining bud from the top of Neville's head and it laughed, spun, and then popping in her hand, petals bursting forth and all around them.

She smiled at the sight and he leaned forward slowly toward her. She hesitated, but moved forward to meet him.

His lips were sweet, twitching with a smile that tugged her own back to life as well. They kissed there on the floor, both covered in potting soil and petals and fertilizer.

Neville ran his hand up into her hair, tangling in the long, dark brown strands. He couldn't believe he was doing this, kissing Lyra Lestrange.

For a long moment, they merely sat there kissing, hands slowly stroking through hair and down faces.

The knock at the front door interrupted them. They pulled apart, but Neville was soon kissing her again, unwilling to let the moment go.

She laughed lightly, kissing him back, but slowly pulled back once more. "Neville…the door…"

"Bugger the door…" He told her, but when she held up her fingers to stop his lips, he sighed and got to his feet, pulling his wand from his pocket. "Better be bloody important…" He whispered to himself.

After checking the peephole, he opened the door up to let the visitor in and Lyra got to her feet when she saw it was Harry Potter himself standing there.

He nodded in greeting to Neville and took out his wand slowly.

Neville eyed him a moment. "Harry? What's going on?"

Harry sighed and stepped past his friend, pointing his wand at the girl. "Lyra Lestrange, by the power of the Ministry of Magic you are hereby under arrest."

"W-what? Why is she under arrest?" Neville asked his friend and glanced over to Lyra who was taking a step back. "Harry, you checked out her story, right?"

Harry nodded to him, keeping his wand trained on Lyra. "She lied. There is no record of her at the college or at the address she gave us."

"That's a lie! I told you the truth. You must have looked in the wrong place."

"You wrote down the address yourself, Lestrange. Hold out your wrists and make this easier on yourself." He approached her and she looked to Neville for help, but he didn't know what to do. Help her? Help Harry?

"You must have gone to the wrong place. Neville, tell him I'm not a Dark Witch." She pleaded with him, refusing to put her wrists out and when Harry fired an Incarcerous charm, she dove to the floor and out of sight behind the plants.

"Lyra!" Neville swore as she dodged and ran across the apartment, to where he really didn't know, but he raised his wand and flung a Stupefy curse at her back. It hit her square and she tripped over a pot of Violets as she hit the floor.

"Good shot, mate…" Harry patted him on the back as he went to retrieve the girl and bind her for transport back to the Ministry.

Neville nodded to him slowly and watched, feeling a knot in his stomach twisting up into his throat. He had just bloody kissed her…just started to actually feel something for her. And now Harry was here telling him it was all a lie?

"Your lucky she didn't manage to get your wand. I imagine her friends would have been here to attack you in a split if she had…" Harry said, getting back to his feet.

"None of what she said was true?" Neville asked and Harry sighed lightly, shaking his head.

"The Dark Witch we caught in the office talked. Lyra's been using the Lestrange fortune in the family's vault at Gringotts to fund the Dark Wizards." Harry pulled Lyra to her feet then and guided her toward the door.

She instantly started to struggle, looking to Neville wildly. "Neville, he's the one that's lying! I swear to you! Please, don't let him take me to Azkaban!" She screamed and for a moment, she looked so much like Bellatrix that the memory of the witch burned across his vision.

He swallowed down bile, but she was screaming more even as Harry took her away and out of his apartment. Screaming to him for help. When he heard the percussion and the silence that followed, he knew she was gone, disapparated with Harry back to the Ministry and to a cell at Azkaban.

Let the Dementor's deal with her.

It was where she belonged. It was where she was born.

That thought stopped him a moment. He never knew where she was born. He riddled that in his head.

Why would he know something like that? The more he pondered, the more a memory started to come back to him.

The Astronomy Tower.

Right after Dumbledore died.

He was holding her hand on the balcony, sitting with her and looking up at the stars.

Just a couple teenagers. Her head was on his shoulder, she told him about the Dementors that nearly killed her when she was born. Then they were kissing. Their first kiss. He could still feel it on his lips from that day. It was his first kiss, though he always thought that first kiss was with Hannah Abbot at a concert.

The memory felt true, but it also felt surreal, almost like it was a dream. But why was it so fuzzy a memory? And why did it not seem complete?

The answer hit him like a ton of bricks. She had to have done something to him that night…but what? Slipped him a potion? No.

He swore softly. "She Obliviated it…but why?"

That was the big question. Why would she kiss him and then take the memory away? Only to come back years later and do all this? Something didn't fit and that bothered him.

Looking around the apartment, he decided he couldn't stay there at the moment, not with the memory of her still so fresh in the air. He reached for his coat and went to the fireplace in the kitchen, tossing in some Floo powder.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" He shouted and with a sudden burst of green flame, he left the apartment, leaving Trevor to soak up the sun under the skylight in peace.


	8. Chapter 8: The Boy who was Decieved

Chapter Eight

The Leaky Cauldron was in the usual state for a Wednesday night. Dark, dank, and lonely. The witches and wizards that were present that evening were of an uncolorful sort to say the least.

And Neville blended right in.

He sat alone at the bar, sipping a pint of Guiness silently, keeping his distance from the others in the room who seemed to want to be alone as well.

"You're not looking too chipper today, Neville. Why the serious face?" A voice asked him from behind the bar softly and he lifted his head to see the familiar face of the bartender.

"Hey, Hannah. I'm just…thinking about some things." He said with a weak smile.

"Dangerous business, that. She got a name? "

"Huh?" Neville nearly choked on his mouthful of beer.

His hostess only smiled to him. "It's got to be a girl that's got you in this state. No man comes in here looking like that about his petunias."

He couldn't help but chuckle to that. How did Hannah know him so well? Of course, he knew the answer. He had dated the former member of Hufflepuff House for a short time after leaving Hogwarts, but the relationship hadn't lasted terribly long. They were better friends.

"You don't have to tell me her name…but how about you talk to me a bit? Maybe I can help clear you clear your head." She offered and for a moment, Neville looked contemplative as he thought about things before slowly nodding to her.

"It's kind of complicated, you know?" He said and as he finished off the last swig of his beer, Hannah was already sliding him another with a knowing.

"I'm all ears. She get away from you?"

"Sort of…" Neville muttered softly and sighed. "I don't even know what's going on, really. I shouldn't feel like this about her."

Hannah gave an understanding nod. "It's always the one's that we shouldn't fall for. What do they say? We always want what we can't have?"

Neville shook his head. "It's not really like that. I mean, I don't care for her like that…I never have, but all of a sudden I've got all these mixed emotions…"

"People change with time, Neville. Feelings change."

"Yeah, but this is weird. I never even liked this person. In fact, I kind of hated her. But know it's like everything is different somehow."

"It sound like love to me…are you sure it was really hate you felt? Love has a weird way about it. Sometimes it can be so strong that feelings we thought we felt are really something else entirely." She explained and he raised a brow to that.

"Sounds unhealthy to me. They put people on medicine for that, you know?"

She rolled her eyes. "Numpty, look. It sounds like you have strong feelings for this person. Why not just let what happens happen? She might feel the same way about you."

"Not likely…" He muttered and Hannah excused herself to get another patron a refill. Maybe she was right. Maybe the feelings her had were stronger than he thought. But after all that had happened… It couldn't be.

Lyra was bad news. He had decided that the first day he met her on the train. And now with her being a Dark Witch, he knew he had been proven right. She was a liar. A con. She just had to figure out what she was planning. For now though, she was going to Azkaban.

It was a good place for her to be. Far away from him with those blue eyes of hers.

He cursed himself and took another heavy swallow from his pint, trying to chase away the image.

As he took another swallow, a hand came down on his back and he looked to see Harry standing next to him. "Been looking all over for you, Longbottom. What are you doing here?"

"Just having a pint to clear my head." He told his old friend.

"Needed a break, huh? Who have you got watching Lestrange, then?" Harry asked as he leaned on the bar, waiting to get a pint himself.

Neville turned keen eyes to him. "What do you mean? You came and arrested her this afternoon. Carted her off back to the Ministry…"

Harry narrowed his eyes at that and held up his hand when Neville was suddenly on his feet, wand aimed at him. He was getting fast, was Neville, Harry noted with a bit of appreciation as he stood there with his friend and fellow Auror holding a wand at his face.

"The passcode to the last Auror meeting."

"Pumpkin loaf spice cake. I was with Ginny and the kids all this morning and afternoon, Neville. If someone came to collect her, it sure as anything was not me."

Neville lowered his wand at that, cursing softly. How had he been duped? Polyjuice potion again? "You think one of the Dark Wizards was springing her free?"

"I don't know for sure, Neville, that's the kicker. I checked out her story. She told the truth. She is in college, like she said, and I found the apartment she's staying in. Place is muggle all the way save for a few Daily Prophets."

Neville thought about that for a long moment. She was telling the truth?

"She had a lot of bad stuff as well though. Found some needles in the apartment and other things. I think she's been doing drugs…" Harry told him, sounding a bit sad about that. The girl had looked on the thin side when they had brought her in. Of course, the drugs had to be behind that.

"I knew that much…Heroine?" Harry nodded to him and Neville shook his head.

"Can't believe she was taking that crap, but she says it numbed the pain for her…" Harry said and when Neville opened his mouth to ask how he had heard that, Harry slid him a leather found journal. "Found that at the apartment too. Been reading it a little bit. I don't think Lyra is a Dark Witch at all…"

Neville looked at the journal curiously and flipped it open, skimming over the first page.

_Dear diary, _

_Today is the first day of school for me at Hogwarts and I'm on the train right now. Tonks says there is nothing to be afraid of, but I don't know. It's going to be so different. I wonder if I'll have nice teachers. I got all my books yesterday and all my supplies. Even my wand! Olivander told me that almost everyone in my family got the same sort of wands. Dark wood grains, dragon heartstring. He said mine was different though, something he did not see too often. A white holly with a unicorn's horn shard amongst a family of dragons. I don't know what that means. Maybe I won't even be a Slytherin like the rest of my family. I have to go now. We just got to the station. _

Neville shook his head slowly after reading the page.

"There's more…but I think you'll need to read those yourself, Neville…" Harry said lightly, remembering the passages he had read. Neville definitely needed to read them himself.

He nodded slowly to that and closed it for now before he got up to get his coat. "So if she isn't a Dark Witch, why would they come for her?"

Harry shrugged at that, not sure. "Could be a number of reasons. The point right now is that they have her and we need to find a way to figure out what they are up to and where they might have taken her."

He didn't need to say more. Neville was already shrugging into his coat and heading for the door at a fast pace. He knew just where to start their search.

* * *

><p><em>Weasley House<em>

_Crossford Lane, Wakefield_

"I can't believe it. Can you believe it, Ron?"

"Hermione, I'm trying to sleep."

"How can you sleep at a time like this?"

"Because the baby is sleeping. I take what I can get." Ron muttered into his pillow and then grunted when he felt another pillow knock him in the back.

"Wake up, Ronald, and talk to me." His wife demanded from next to him in bed and he begrudgingly flipped over and pushed himself up against his pillows, yawning.

"What, 'mione?"

She sighed, resting back against the pillows. "We went to her funeral, Ron…how can she still be alive?"

"I don't know, love. Clearly she wasn't really dead."

"Clearly." Hermione shot him daggers and he shrugged. "Do you think Neville is safe?"

"Safer than anyone else would be I imagine. He's got things under control. It's not like how he was when we were all younger…"

She nodded slowly to that in remembrance. "He's changed so much since that first year we all met in Gryffindor. Especially in the last year of school when we were away with Harry."

"He grew up a lot that year…really had to step up to the plate. He's a good man though, wouldn't have anyone else at my back in a scrap nowadays."

Hermione smiled to that and moved over to Ron, snuggling up against his side. He raised his arm and slid it around her shoulders, bending to kiss the top of her head.

"Neville went through so much in seventh year, I think about that a lot sometimes. He took so many curses for other students from the Carrows…"

"Where was Lyra that year?" Ron asked curiously and Hermione thought for a moment.

"I remember McGonagall mentioning something about it. She spent a lot of time with the Carrows herself. Everyone started to say that year that she must have become a Death Eater in the summer. I never really believed that though…I mean…not until now." Hermione said softly, remembering back again to those darker times.

"Why is that, love?"

Hermione hugged him closer at that. "When we were in fifth year, when Umbridge had her run of Hogwarts, I stayed late one night in the Room of Requirement to practice. When I snuck out, I heard someone coming and ducked out of sight. It was Snape. He had Lyra with him, but she wasn't conscious. She was limp in his arms and her sleeve was covered in blood. It was dripping all over the hallway."

Ron straightened a bit that that. "What? What happened?"

"Snape stopped in the hall because Umbridge had followed him out of her office. He yelled at her for attacking a student and told her he was going to report her to Dumbledore…" Hermione told him thoughtfully.

"He said that to her? Damn ballsy…" He chuckled lightly.

Hermione frowned to that. "I don't think he ever turned her in though…I didn't see Lyra for a few days…and Dumbledore never did anything that I could tell. When I did see her again, she was working as Snape's assistant in potions. He kept her away from Umbridge after that."

"Why didn't he tell someone?" Ron asked curiously and Hermione glanced up to him.

"I didn't know for a long time, but then one breakfast before that Christmas I happened to see Lyra's arm. She had a scar on it. From what I gather, Umbridge made her draw the Dark Mark with her special quill."

"The bitch…" Ron muttered and shook his head. "So she wasn't a Death Eater then?"

Hermione shrugged. "Not that I know, but remember, Snape was a double agent for the Order. Lyra spent a lot of time with him after that fifth year incident. I think Snape might have had her working for him as a spy. I mean…it would make sense as to why she was with the Carrows so much. He couldn't be there to keep an eye on things when he was working so close with Voldemort."

Ron thought on that for a bit. He supposed it was plausible. "But then, if she was working for the Order, or at least Snape, then why did she run away and pretend to be a muggle when everyone thought she was dead?"

"Something must have happened that night that no one knows about. Something so bad that it made her run. Remember, she lost Tonks and Lupin that night, but also her mother…"

"Good riddens to that one." He scoffed and Hermione scowled up to him.

"Regardless, that must have been hard all in the same, Ron. To lose so much."

"We all lost a lot that night, but you don't see me running under a rock and hiding." He shrugged and Hermione sighed as she sat up to look him straight in the face.

"What if it had nothing to do with the deaths? I mean…Neville told me at her funeral that he was the last person to see her alive and she was with the Carrows when he had."

Ron took on a serious look then. "Neville said that?"

Hermione nodded.

"That's odd. That night he didn't mention anything about her when we talked about the casualties…" Ron found that odd. How had Neville seen her die when she hadn't? It didn't add up.

His line of thought was broken however by a knock at the door and he groaned, getting up to pull on his pants before he headed for the downstairs door while Hermione went to tend to Rose who was already crying in her cot near the bed.

Ron had barely gotten the door unlocked and cracked before Neville came rushing in with Harry on his heels, both looking a bit winded.

"Where's Hermione?" Neville asked and Ron looked back toward the stairs to see Hermione already on the landing, cradling Rose against her shoulder.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?"

Neville moved up to the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her. "They've taken Lyra. The Dark Wizards. One of them polyjuiced himself as Harry and came to my apartment for her."

"They broke her out?" Ron asked and Harry shook his head.

"No, we think they've kidnapped her, but we need to figure out where to and why. That's where you come in Hermione." Harry told her and she nodded to that, moving down the stairs toward them.

"What can I do to help?"

"We're going to need a few things from the Department of Mysteries. Can you arrange that?"

Hermione nodded to that without hesitation. She was head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but she could always ask a few favors. "Yes. Just tell me what you need and I'll make sure we get it. I have a few friends in the Department of Mysteries that can help us. What is it you need?"

"We'll talk about it on the way." Neville told her quickly and Ron took the baby from his wife.

"You three go on. I'll get a hold of Mum to watch the baby then I'll be along shortly." He told them and Hermione kissed him quickly before she went to get dressed before following Neville and Harry out.

Neville seemed to be taking the lead and she glanced a look to Harry at that. He nodded to her and she felt a smile pull at her lips. Something was different in Neville even now. Something had changed and she couldn't put her finger quite on it, but she had inkling that it was very much to do with Lyra Lestrange.


	9. Chapter 9: The Girl Chained by Death

Chapter Nine

Lyra could feel her head on cool grass, her cheek damp from resting there and she groaned softly, slowly opening her eyes as she started to come to. She was met with the sight of a gray, rumbling sky above and a sea of cryptic headstones all around her.

Graveyard.

She swallowed down the rising panic at that and looking up to see what she was resting against and her eyes traveled up along the figure of a grim reaper. The stone monument looking upon her from an empty hood, his scythe raised as if to strike her down. Then her eyes fell to the name on the tomb that the monument marked.

Riddle.

That caused a panic. She went to get to her feet, only to realize her leg was chained to the monument to hold her in place. She reached down to attempt to force the chain off over her ankle, but it was enchanted and tight.

It wouldn't budge.

"Going somewhere, Lyra?" A voice touched her ears and she stepped back as far as she could from the statue, seeing a figure pacing out from behind it slowly. He wore a black robe and mask that she recognized instantly, though the mask itself was a bit different in style from that of the Death Eaters she remembered. It was a flash of white in the black hood, an emotionless mask that made her much more afraid.

"What do you want with me?" She asked and the man stopped his passing just to the left of the statue, running his hand along the cool stone of Death's wing.

"Everything. You are the single most important witch tonight…did you know that? The miracle that it is that you actually live. So very important to us all…"

"What are you talking about?" She was confused now, listening to the man talking under his mask.

"I am talking about the role that you will play, my dear. You see…we are all that remains of those loyal to the Dark Master." He held up his arms and on cue, six clouds of black swirled to life, bringing with him more dark figures in robes and white masks.

"Voldemort is dead. And you people are crazy."

Suddenly the leader was there behind her, grabbing her by the hair hard as he kicked her knees out and forced her hands to catch herself.

"Never call us crazy, Lyra…and never believe the Dark Master to be gone. He came back once did he not?"

Lyra was silent at that, wincing as he held her hair tighter before finally letting go and stepping toward the statue of death once more.

"Do you know how he was restored last time? The Blood of the enemy…" He whispered and Lyra looked around her warily, watching the others circling them and starting to seemingly cast a magical circle outward.

"You would need Harry for that I'm afraid…"

He chuckled lightly then. "That magic was weak. To use so much little blood to bring back the Dark Master. And that is where the fault lies. He should have seen the problems that would arise from sharing the blood of one he was already connected with so intimately. No…the blood of Harry Potter will not be of use to us in restoring our Master. Instead, we require something else."

She eyed him at that, waiting for what he had to say next and he reached up, removing his mask. She recognized the face instantly. "Blaise…?"

He smirked to her and stepped closer again. "Do you know what it is that we need, Lyra?"

She stared at him in shock and shook her head. Smiling to her, he pulled a knife from his side, showing her the intricately designed blade. "He must be restored through a compatible vessel. You share the same blood as the Dark Lord…"

She shook her head again slowly. There was no way that was true. "Voldemort was not my father, Blaise…"

"Was he not? I always wondered why it was Dumbledore himself that went to Azkaban to retrieve you from the Dementors. Do you not see it? The blood in your very veins now is the same magical blood of Lord Voldemort. You are his daughter." He ran the cool side of the knife against her cheek and she pulled back sharply.

"You're wrong." She spat at him and he chuckled, getting to his feet before delivering a swift kick to her ribs that left her gasping on her side in the wet grass.

"Come midnight you will understand, Lyra. You will understand what having Riddle blood means and through you, we will bring the Dark Lord back…" He told her before sheathing his blade and walking off again with the others.

* * *

><p><em>Department of Mysteries<em>

Arthur Weasley was always happy to see his family, but today he was less than thrilled when Ron and Ginny came rushing into his apartment with their spouses in tow and Neville Longbottom pushing to the front of the group.

"What's going on?" He asked them, sensing the disturbance in the group from just the looks on their faces.

Neville tried to start talking, but his words came out garbled. Sighing, Ginny ushered him to take a seat and a deep breath as Hermione stepped forward.

"What Neville is trying to say is that we need some help. An old classmate from Hogwarts, Lyra Lestrange, has been taken by a group of Dark Wizards. We don't know what they plan to do with her, but we have to figure out a way to find and stop them…"

Arthur eyed her at that, opening his mouth to tell them that he would do what he could, but they had no real way of finding them, but Neville finally found his composure.

"They're going to kill her. She shares blood with Voldemort and I think they mean to bring him back again…" He told them and the room fell silent. Harry looked white as a sheet and shook his head.

"That's impossible." He said, pacing away from the others.

Hermione worried her lip lightly. "Whether she is or not isn't relative at the moment."

Arthur nodded to that. "Hermione's right. Regardless of what she is, she's in danger. How can I help?"

Harry stepped forward and nodded to Arthur. "We need to get a few things out of safe keeping. The Time-Turner for one…"

Arthur sighed then softly. "I can't help you there…the Time-Turner was lost to us a couple years back. We believe it was stolen…"

"Stolen? As in someone nicked it?" Rob asked and Arthur nodded once more.

"We haven't been able to find out who."

Harry sighed at that lightly, not sure where to go from here. How were they going to figure this out fast enough now? Lyra could be dead before they even got there.

"Wait…maybe they want to do it like before…" Neville spoke up and Harry glanced to him at that sharply.

"The graveyard." He muttered and Neville nodded, getting to his feet to rush for the door, but Arthur called to him.

"You can't all rush into this alone, you're going to need help." He told them and Ron nodded to his father, but smiled.

"Dad, we're Aurors…we can handle a few Dark Wizards."

Arthur shook his head at that. "These aren't just Dark Wizards, son…these are fanatics. If they don't get what they want, they very well could try to just kill everyone…including themselves. Most likely they're made up of Voldemort's old army. They may even be people you knew. Stay strong…"

They all nodded to him and turned for the door again.

"One more thing!" Arthur called to them and started to rummage through a desk drawer. "Neville…"

Neville glanced back and then slowly made his way to the desk where Arthur laid down an item before him. The pendant was made of black onyx with white pearl under it. The black swirled and moved back from the pearl when he touched it and he looked to the head of the Weasley family in confusion. "I don't understand…what is this?"

"An Eclipser. If they are doing what I suspect that they are doing, then we might have some trouble on our hands indeed…this should get you close enough to do what you need to do." Arthur told him and Neville nodded to that, putting the pendant around his neck before he and the others headed out the door once more and to the nearest broom closet.


	10. Chapter 10: The Boy who was Too Late

Chapter Ten

The Dark Wizards had returned to start the ritual some time ago. They had used the arms of the statue to chain up her own hands and hold her outstretched and aloft, her legs still bound together to keep her from kicking at anyone.

Below her, they had opened the stone sarcophagus that held the remains of Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort. The arms of his skeleton were crossed over one another like some sort of mummy. She shivered as she looked down at it, feeling the panic within her rising.

What if this did work? What if these crazy people managed to bring back Voldemort? The thought was frightening.

She did not want to go through all of that again. The war was enough in those day when she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Shutting her eyes to block out the chanting of the Dark Wizards around her, she let herself drift back over the years to other memories.

The first day at Hogwarts came to her mind…

* * *

><p>She was scared on the platform when she arrived with her aunt Andromeda, Theodore Tonks, and Nymphadora, but they assured her that everything would be fine.<p>

"C'mon, it's just a big ol' castle with a bunch of smart asses running amuck. You'll fit in nicely." Her cousin told her with a laugh and swatted her on the back.

"Nymphadora." Andromeda shot her daughter a look to tell her to watch her words, but the metamorphmagus only shrugged and let her hair turn a rebellious shade of orange.

"Just remember, Lyra. Everyone in your year is just as scared and frightened of being new as you are." Theodore told her with a warm smile and she took those words in, but she didn't know what to really say.

"You'll do fine, dear…" Andromeda told her and softly kissed her on the forehead.

Lyra nodded to them and said her goodbyes as she steered her luggage to the train and got aboard for the ride to the school.

The ride was mostly uneventful for her, sitting alone in the train's hall, avoiding the Sweet's Trolley now until a Prefect finally ushered her into a box to sit with a few other first years. It was her first encounter with her cousin Draco and his friends.

Though she knew him, they had never met. Andromeda and her sister Narcissa did not see eye to eye on the status of pure bloods.

"Hey, Draco, isn't she your cousin?" Crabbe's attempt at whispering in the small compartment was not the best when she heard every word.

"Yeah, she's his aunt's daughter. Bellatrix Lestrange. But since she's in Azkaban, she's living with those Muggle lovers, the Tonks family." Goyle said and Draco shot him a dirty look for answering for him.

"She's a cousin by blood, I suppose, but I don't claim her. She's probably got all those dumb notions in her head that Muggles and mud bloods are equal to Pureblood Wizards." Draco shrugged, but Lyra kept her mouth shut.

Regardless of how her aunt had brought her up, defending those views right now in front of her cousin and his friends was a frightening idea for the eleven year old. Her stomach was churning at the mere thought.

"Well? You believe all that garbage, Lestrange? That all Wizards are born equal?" Goyle prodded her with the questions and she turned her eyes from the window of the cab.

"Aren't they? What makes them so different from us? They have just as much magic as purebloods and in some instances, they are even stronger than purebloods." She could feel the disdain in the air already and she knew she had said something very wrong.

"You're a Muggle-lover just like Andromeda. Your mother will be thrilled." Draco hissed his words out and she found herself gaining a bit of courage.

"I don't particularly care what my mother is thrilled with or not. She's in Azkaban for a reason." She told them and had it not been for a boy coming by the door, asking about his lost toad Trevor, she knew her cousin might have zapped her. She excused herself to go looking for the toad with the boy and two other girls. One with a shock of bright red hair and another with a bush of curly brown locks.

"I'm Ginny Weasley. Neville is a year older than us and doesn't seem to know what he did with his frog…we've looked all over the place…"

"H-he's a TOAD." Neville shot to her with a stammer and Lyra had to smile at that.

"And I'm Hermione Granger. Are you sure you looked everywhere Neville? This happened last year as well. I'm afraid it's becoming a habit. And you are?" The Gryffindor looked to her curiously.

"I'm Lyra Lestrange…" She had barely even said the name before the boy had turned to stare at her in such fright that she worried a Dementor was over her shoulder. Then he turned and ran the other way down the hall.

"That was odd…wonder what spooked him…" Hermione puzzled and Lyra shook her head, sure that it had something to do with her, but she wasn't sure why he would be so afraid…

Her memory shifted and now she was standing in the Great Hall, slowly approaching the Sorting Hat that was waiting for her. Ginny Weasley had already gone just before her and had been sorted into Gryffindor. She would not have minded being in that house. It seemed happy, friendly. Everyone was excited to be there.

She slowly took a seat on the bench and the hat was lowered onto her hair.

"Ahhh, now here is a tricky one, yes. Smart…crafty…but no. Not a Ravenclaw. And Loyal. Yes, so very loyal and a hard-worker to boot…but Hufflepuff is not for you, either. Hmmm…Not many friends I see. Strange that is. But what is in your heart? Chivalry? Bravery?" The Sorting Hat pondered and pondered for a long time, warring over ideas and Lyra swallowed hard, seeing everyone was now watching in anticipation.

"Do you want glory?"

The question from the hat was a bit curious, but she looked up at the brim curiously. "Not really…"

"A pity. You could be so good. But you want to reach your successes with willpower and talent alone…good qualities. You're resourceful and resilient as well. But the true teller…is right under your skin. Lurking there just out of sight of everyone else…" The hat was whispering just to her now and she shivered at the words. "There is a darkness in your blood…Slytherin!"

The announcement elicited claps from her new house, but little more reaction from everywhere else. She glanced to the Gryffindor table to find Neville, the boy from the train, getting up abruptly and rushing from the Great Hall. He looked white as a sheet. Was he sick?

She slowly sat down at the Slytherin table, as far away from her cousin as she could and after a brief speech, the feast began.

* * *

><p><em>Maybe my blood has always been Voldemort's…maybe it's always been bad… <em>She thought to herself bitterly as she hung there above the open tomb, looking down at the bones that her blood was about to give flesh to again and restore the terror the Dark Lord had launched on the world.

She felt tears coming to her eyes. No one was going to stop this.

Neville thought she was at Azkaban prison. They had convinced him that she couldn't be trusted. That she was a liar. She shut her eyes again as the tears started to fall.

"Crying, dear Lyra? Why so sad now? You have been so silent these past couple hours…" Blaise asked her as he stepped forward, just under her.

"Go to Hell, Blaise…get away from me…" She snapped at him and he chuckled lightly at that.

"Quite the viper when you wish to be…you know…I always fancied you. Muggle-Lover or not. Draco would have never had it though. Do you realize that was the only thing that stopped me from ever sneaking into your room at night or slipping you a potion…" He whispered, running his hand along her side and up under her shirt.

She thrashed to break his contact with her skin. "You're fucking disgusting, Blaise."

He shrugged at that and reached for the blade again from his belt, the others moving into position around them. "Sad that we have to kill you to do this properly…or I would have loved to give you a proper…send off." He licked his lips at the prospect and she spat at him at that.

Laughing, he stepped back and started to chant with the others who were now circling the area, raising the magic in the air to another level. She could feel the hairs of the back of her neck rising.

She shut her eyes tight again, hoping deep down that somehow she could make it through this. That someone would come and rescue her just in the nick of time.

But no one was coming…no one knew where she was.

Another tear squeezed out from her clamped lids and suddenly Blaise was whispering in her ear. "It's time…are you ready to bring back your father?"

He never gave her a chance to answer. There was a loud pop somewhere in the distance and then the sharp edge of the blade was at her neck, sliding sleekly across the skin and deeper. The sensation was odd…it wasn't painful. The blade so sharp that it didn't catch as it swept across her throat. The panic never came. She supposed she gave up then and when she opened her eyes and looked down, she saw Blaise's blade covered in bright red blood and when she let her eyes move down to the tomb below, her blood was dripping quickly down to cover the bones of Voldemort and she swore she saw the jaw twitch with a smirk before she fainted.

The pop that resonated close by was in fact the sound of the others Apparating just on the other side of the circle of magic that the Dark Wizards were creating.

"Oh God…" Ron muttered and Neville turned just in time to see the masked Dark Wizard slit Lyra's throat.

He screamed and ran towards the edge of the circle. "REDUCTO!" He screamed, but the walls would not breech. "LYRA!"

Hermione moved over to him quickly. "That's not going to work, Neville…it's blood magic now. One of the strongest forms of witchcraft…"

"I have to help her, Hermione." He told her and she looked to Harry for help, but he was staring at the now unconscious girl. She was losing a lot of blood fast. If she wasn't dead already, she would be in moments.

"There has to be a way to get to her…" Ron told them and Ginny turned at that quickly and moved to Neville.

"The Eclipser…" She said and pulled the pendant up from under his shirt.

"I don't know how to even use it…" He told her, looking to Hermione and the others for help.

Hermione worried her lip a moment and stepped closer as well. This was something she had never seen before. "Arthur said this would get you close enough…but that clearly didn't work…maybe it has to be activated."

"But how, Hermione?" He glanced to Lyra quickly. God, they didn't have time for this. He pushed past her and ran for the edge of the magic barrier again and this time when he hit, time seemed to slow.

The pendant around his neck began to glow, the white pearl starting to blaze brightly until all the black onyx had vanished and a white moon like disk remained. As he stood before the wall, the light opened a rift in the magic, visible by the green glow of power being forced out and away from him. He stepped through the barrier slowly and drew his wand.

Everything was in slow motion. The mouths of the chanters, the dripping of Lyra's blood into the open tomb. He went to her quickly and as he neared, he fired off a curse at the man that had cut her neck.

"Stupefy!" He screamed and suddenly time returned. The man went wheeling back, his mask blasted from his face and Neville was left staring down at the face of Blaise Zabini. The Dark Wizard was quickly on his feet, glaring death at the Auror before him and they started exchanging curses as they others broken their the now weakened barrier.

"You can't stop this from happening, Longbottom! It's already been set into motion. Her blood is reviving him as we speak!" Blaise screamed at him and fired a killing curse his way, but Neville dove in the grass and rolled to the side before getting up and sent another curse of his own towards him.

All around them, the battle raged. Ginny and Hermione in their own duel with two witches in masks and Harry had to of his own as did Ron. Curses were flying all around the graveyard and Ron took a hard curse to the arm that left him on the ground in a heap. Harry was at his side instantly though to help finish off the remaining Dark Wizard that he had been fighting and Hermione rushed to her husband's side to protect and help him.

Seeing that his side had lost, Blaise snarled and fired one more curse at them before he Disaparated from the area.

Neville took a couple deep breaths before he went to Lyra and raised his wand as he hopped up on the stone tomb she was over. "Liberatas." He whispered and she fell free of the chains and into his arms. She was completely limp.

He settled her down on the ground and sighed heavily, looking down at her face. Ginny and Harry were at his side in an instant, standing over him.

"It's alright, Neville…there was nothing you could have done…" She told him as she put a hand on his shoulder, but he ignored her.

"Harry…you know how to reverse the blood loss from Sectumsempra…please…"

Harry shook his head. "That's only for that spell, Neville…I can't bring people back from the dead…"

"What about the Philosopher's Stone? There has to be some way! Hermione, please!" He looked over to see his friend hovering over her own husband, soothing him from the wound he had taken to the shoulder.

Neville groaned in frustration and punched the stone tomb by his side and screamed out his rage.

He had sent her to this fate.

It was his fault she was dead.

All his fault.

"I'm sorry, Lyra…" He whispered and squeezed her limp hand gently in his own, his other now swollen from hitting the tomb. As he held her hand, he felt a weak squeeze back and he lifted his eyes to look at her face. She was trying to open her eyes, trying to move.

His eyed widened at that and he looked to the others. "She's alive! I'm taking her to St. Mungo's…get these bastards into cells…" He told the others and then he quickly disaparated with Lyra held close to him.

There was still a chance.


	11. Chapter 11: The Girl who Slept for Days

Chapter 11

"You know, I've found that sleeping in chairs can be very uncomfortable."

The sound of the voice from the door jolted Neville and he was on his feet, wand in his hand in an instant, but lowered it slowly when he saw that it was Luna in the door with Ginny peeking in behind her. He offered a nod to his old friends before plopping back down in his chair at Lyra's bedside.

He hadn't left St. Mungo's in a week and it was starting to show. Though there was a shower downstairs that he had been using, he still looked disheveled, and with good reason. He hadn't seen a razor in days and his face was starting to turn shaggy from the stubble coming in.

Luna was right, the chairs were uncomfortable here and he had not sleep much in the past few days. Perhaps guilt kept him awake more than anything. He looked to the girl laying in the bed before him. She looked paler than ever, her dark hair almost seemed black in the dim lighting. Was it not for the equipment telling him otherwise, he would have thought she was as dead as he had when he had freed her in the graveyard.

The Dark Wizard's still weren't talking and they had yet to catch Blaise who everyone had thought was trusted worker for the Ministry. It explained how the first Dark Witch that had tried to kill Lyra had gotten into his office, but not much else.

"You look ghastly, Neville. Have you eaten?"

"I've been pinching her jellos when the meal trolley comes around…" He said and Ginny smiled as she came into the room behind Luna.

"What are the doctor's saying?" Luna asked as she moved to the other side of the bed to look at Lyra's face. She seemed to be sleeping deeply and that made the blonde a bit sad. It was Dobby all over again in her mind. How close sleeping forever had Lyra come? How close was she still?

"Not much. She's in what they a non-progressive state. It means she isn't getting worse, but she isn't getting better very quickly either." He said softly, leaning back in the chair. "She could wake up any second or she might never wake up again and just…"

"…be stuck like this." Luna whispered to finish his sentence and he silently nodded to her in answer.

Ginny sighed lightly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you should take a break Neville? Luna and I can keep watch incase any unwanted visitors drop by. And you can get a shave and a good night's sleep."

He chewed the inside of his cheek a moment at that. It wasn't Dark Wizard's attacking that he worried about. It was Lyra coming to and him not being there to apologize. What would his presence do anyway though? He had handed her to the wolves after all.

What if after all this she wanted nothing to do with him? That she would hate him with as much fury as he had hated her when they were at school.

He finally sighed and nodded to her. "I think that sounds good. I have a stop to make before I leave though…"

Luna smiled at that and nodded. "Tell your mother I send my love…" She told him and he smiled back lightly before thanking them both and heading out of the room, grabbing his jacket on the way.

With a last look over his shoulder to Lyra, he slipped out into the hall of the Wizard's hospital. He found the elevator with no problem and took it to the mental care ward. Once it came to a stop, he counted the familiar tiles like he had done hundreds of times until he reached a room and he lightly knocked on the door before he opened it and stepped inside.

Frank and Alice Longbottom were sitting in the living room of what looked like a small apartment. Off to the left was a bedroom and bathroom.

His mother was knitting, a very big improvement for her that had come about over years of therapy. He kept quite a bit of her half down knitting projects in a box at home.

His father, however, was not having many improvements over the years. He sat in his same chair in the corner, staring off into space and watching things moving that were not there. Next to him, the radio was giving news about the Dark Wizards that had been captured.

Neville slowly walked over and turned it down on low. "Hey, you two. What's new?" He asked.

His mother paused in her knitting and looked to him curiously, but then turned back to her knitting. "Where is that light blue yarn…? I always lose the light blue yarn. Damn cats is stealing it." She muttered quickly to herself and Neville smirked. They had no cat.

His father made no comment at all, his eyes were fixed to a spot on the wall.

"Have to find the blue yarn…have to find the cat that stole it…"

Neville sighed softly. "Have you two been out in the gardens this week?"

Again no response, only his mother's mutterings about the yarn thief.

"The weather is nice today. A little rain this morning, but still pretty good…" He said and again, nothing at all.

"Waste of time…" He muttered, hand running through his hair, and he headed to turn the radio back up and leave them be, but he paused when his father spoke.

"It was raining the day I met my Alice." He whispered softly and Neville took a seat slowly in a chair nearby. His father hadn't spoken around him in years now. He only hoped he would continue.

"It was raining…she was sitting on the grounds of the school reading a book. I ran under her tree to get out of the rain…and we met. She let me sit with her and we talked about books. I fell in love with her the first day…"

Neville swallowed at that, the story simple, but it reached inside him. Some many people knew the stories of how their parents met…but he had never heard it like this from his father. His parents had loved each other so much…and they had loved him. That only happened once in a life time.

"We lost so much…" Were his father's last whispered words before looking back at the spot on the wall and Neville shut his eyes a moment. He often wondered if his parents remembered anything of what had happened…those simple words confirmed it. He slowly reached over to his father's hand and squeezed it.

"Not everything, dad. I'm right here…your son is right here and I always will be."

His father said nothing more and Neville squeezed his eyes a moment to stop the watering of his eyes before he stood and headed to his mother who was still knitting and muttering. He bent and kissed her on the forehead.

"Have to make the baby a blanket…damn cat stole the yarn…where is the yarn…"

"I love you, mom. I'll get you more yarn later…" He told her and then headed for the door, shutting it behind him once he was out in the hall and he took a deep breath as he leaned next to the door and suppressed the tears.

When he was ready, he headed out of the building, counting the tiles on the way and headed for his apartment for a shower and shave before he would come back to relieve the girls later.

When evening came, a freshly shaved Neville found himself back at the hospital, heading toward the intensive care area where Lyra's room was. He was surprised though, to see several nurses bustling about the hall around her room. Some looking a bit anxious, other's trying to calm patients down.

He jogged the last few steps to the door and started to push through the crowd. "What's going on?" He asked as he grabbed the nearest nurse by the elbow and then he got his answer.

"You have to let me go! I can't stay here! Don't you understand what I'm saying? VOLDEMORT IS BACK!"

Lyra's screams were frantic from the room and he could see Ginny and Luna were clearly not equipped to handle the situation. He swore and shouldered past the crowd and into the room.

"Move." He demanded and went to the bed where two nurses were busy fixing Lyra's arms down to keep her IVs in while another nurse was stepping back with a syringe that had been emptied into her through the IV. He gestured them to get out of the way and he took Lyra by the shoulders, gently shaking her. "Lyra. Lyra!" He yelled and on the second attempt, her eyes rolled up to him lazily.

"What did you give her?" He asked the nurse and she held up the empty syringe.

"Something to calm her down. She woke up screaming like a lunatic about You-Know-Who. We had to give her something before she hurts herself." She explained and he nodded to that, moving his hand in front of Lyra's face.

"Lyra, listen to me. Voldemort is not back. It's okay. That ritual did not work, you understand?"

Lyra giggled softly and shifted on the bed, shutting her eyes. "He is back. I was there, silly…"

"You were also passed out for most of it. There is no way that the ritual could have worked. It was never completed…" He assured her and she shook her head slowly, the bandages on her neck had been ripped off, probably by herself. Her skin was still raw, but it was coming together from the regenerative potion that had been given to her.

"He's my father…my blood brought him back. He's alive…I saw my blood bring him back…he's alive…" She was whispering over and over and he sighed watching her shut her eyes and succumb to the potion.

He sat up on the edge of the bed to let her sleep, looking to the nurses and then to Luna and Ginny who looked like they had tried to hold Lyra down in the beginning. Luna sported some scratches on her wrists and Ginny's wand was at her side. They clearly had not been able to handle her waking in such a frightened state.

He ran his hand over his freshly shaved face and sighed again. "I need to go to Kingsley and the other Aurors. I'll send Ron over when I get there…can you watch her for just a little longer?"

When they nodded to him, he headed for the door and was gone again in seconds, disapparting to the Ministry and straight to the Auror's office. Inside, he saw that Ron and Harry were already there with several other members of the Auror's task force. They sat around a large table, clearly in the middle of a discussion.

He straightened his back and stepped inside to a seat at the table as everyone watched him. "I wasn't aware there was a meeting…"

"We didn't call you, mate, for a reason...Got enough on your plate as is." Ron told him and Neville glanced to Harry who wasn't looking to him. Harry was keeping him out of the loop? His own head of department?

"What's going on?" Neville finally asked and Harry took a deep breath.

"Blaise Zabini, who was leading the Dark Wizards in the graveyard just released a owl to the Prophet saying that Voldemort has returned." Harry said lightly and Neville saw the tension in the room tighten then. He wasn't really back?

He couldn't be.

"He's lying. He's just trying to scare everyone into thinking that Voldemort is back to cause terror…" Neville looked between them all and there was a look of tension going between Harry and Ron and Neville keyed in on it. "What is it?"

"It's what you told us about Lyra in my father's office. If it's true then Voldemort could truly be back." Harry explained and sighed softly. "We need to check to see who her father is, Neville."

"She's in the hospital. We can get some blood…"

Ron shook his head. "Hermione says with the amount of blood they transfused that it might not be accurate."

Neville sat back in his chair and shook his head. "What do you propose? She's just come out of a coma for God's sakes."

Harry took off his glasses a moment to clean them. "We've put out an order for Rudolphus Lestrange to be brought from Azkaban to the Ministry court. We'll be able to do a spell that can test the paternity between her and him to see if she truly is a Lestrange or not…"

"And how should I get her here? She's in the fucking hospital, Harry." He was a little annoyed and Harry could understand that.

"It's either that or we bring Rudolphus to St. Mungo's. And I won't chance that…" He nodded to his friend and colleague and Neville let out a long breath.

"I'll see what I can do…" He whispered and Harry got to his feet, gripping his shoulder as he headed for the door.

"I know you will, Neville. Just tell us when you're ready…" Harry told him and with that, the others followed him out the door, leaving Neville alone with his thoughts.

Voldemort couldn't be back, but if the spell showed that Rudolphus was not Lyra's father, then what would that mean? They start the hunt for the Dark Lord?

He couldn't even stomach the thought of it the war coming back for a third round. He put his head in his hands and sat alone for a bit, wondering how he was going to get through this.


	12. Chapter 12: The Boy who was Absolved

Chapter 12

The court room below the Ministry were as cold as ever the day that Auror Neville Longbottom brought Lyra Lestrange through the doors to sit in the stands. He had told her very little about what was going on today and blissfully, the potions that she had taken that morning at the hospital left her mind a little foggy on much of the details as they were.

He had to wonder, sitting next to her and looking at her glassy eyes, if that was how she was when she had been taking heroine back in London. How could she have left herself to stumble through life? For now, he was with her, making sure she was safe, but to imagine her being used by her would be boyfriend while in this state. It infuriated him.

Reaching over, he softly to her hand and she turned her eyes to him curiously. "Are you sure I'm not in trouble?" She asked and for the third time, he smiled lightly.

"No, Lyra. You're not in trouble. You're here for another reason."

She seemed content with that and turned to look around her as other Aurors began to come into the room, Harry and Ron beaconing him to the floor as Hermione and Ginny slid in on the other side of Lyra in the stands.

"I'll be back…you stay here with Hermione and Ginny for now." He told her and she nodded to him, slowly letting go of his fingers when he stepped away and he walked down the steps and onto the floor of the court room. The cage in the center was already being prepared, the crude device had served its purpose for years to hold Dark Wizards and Death Eaters alike accused of crimes and today, it would serve another.

As Minister Kingsley came into the room, the court recognized him and he took his seat in the Minister's podium as the cage floor was brought in and the prisoner was brought into the courtroom from the cells below.

Rudolphus looked as mad as he had ever been. His eyes wild and his hair long around him, matted and tangled in dreads. He snarled at those around him and Lyra instantly came out of her stupor when she realized who he was. She moved to get to her unsteady feet, but Ginny and Hermione caught her, easing her back down. They exchanged whispers, trying to calm her and Neville felt his guts twist again. Maybe he should have prepared her better for this…

At the sound of the whispers, Rudolphus turned his head with a snap, his eyes settling on Lyra and he curled a lip in a bit of a smirk. "Just like your mother…" He muttered and Lyra's eyes were wide as Neville had ever seen them.

"Rudolphus Lestrange, you have been called here on behalf of the court of the Ministry of Magic." Kingsley said from his stand, turning the prisoner's attention away from Lyra for now. "As a convicted Death Eater and traitor of the World of Magic, you are at the mercy of this court. You have been brought here today for one purpose and one alone. Lyra Lestrange will come to the floor."

The words made Lyra quiver and she shook her head, not wanting to be anywhere near the Death Eater. Neville cursed softly and went to the stands to get her.

"Lyra, you have to come onto the floor. The Minister has ordered it. This won't take long, I swear to you…"

"You didn't tell me any of this!" She whispered to him in a sharp voice, the effort to force the words clearly strained by the injury to her neck and he hated himself for making her hurt herself.

"You never would have come if I had. Please, Lyra…" He whispered and held out his hand, begging her to trust him and finally, she took his hand and let him help her down, having to lean on him for support as he led her to the cage, making sure she was far enough from the prisoner to keep her out of danger.

"What is this? Family reunion time? Come to see dear old dad? Come to sit on my knee?" He laughed from the caged darkly and spat at the ground, earning Harry and Ron's wands to be trained on him, but Kingsley gently ushered them to be lowered.

"The paternity of Lyra is in question today and being the named father of her, you are the first candidate that we suspect, Rudolphus."

The former Death Eater looked up at the Minister at that, the first echo of sanity in him now as he flickered his eyes over the room. "No…no, you think that she isn't my daughter at all. You think that she's His…" He chuckled at that, causing Lyra to flinch in fear, though she had her back to him as Neville wrapped an arm around her for support.

"The heir must be killed to bring back the father…that's how it goes. That's why you have children…to live on through them…" He grinned, his blackened teeth flashing sickeningly.

Kingsley hit his gavel on the podium to silence him. "Enough, Rudolphus. You know who the heir is?"

He smirked up to the dark skinned Minister. "And if I do? What will you give me? A pardon? A get out of jail free card?" He licked his lips. "You know who the heir is…and to bring back the Master, the heir must die…"

"Who is the heir, Rudolphus?" Kingsley asked again, but the Death Eater pursed his lips, not going to say anything until he got a deal of some kind. The Minister would not stoop though and he nodded to Hermione from the stands, who came down to join the others.

While she was coming down, Rudolphus sniffed at the air and turned his eyes back to Neville who was looking the prisoner over while he held Lyra close for support. "You…you're the son of those aurors that we tortured…following in their footsteps?" He muttered to him and Neville narrowed his eyes at him.

"Proudly." Was all he said and Rudolphus spat again at his feet.

"Step aside please, Neville." Hermione asked him lightly and he turned to her before he gently rubbed Lyra's back before he left her side and stepped away to allow for Hermione to work the spell.

For the past three days she had been improving in the hospital, but she still was far from being at peak to leave. The Auror's could not wait around though with the Wizarding World panicking about the possible return of Voldemort. Something had to be done and now. They had sent a formal call to court and he had been forced to get her ready and fly her here himself since she was still too weak to move by apparation or floo network.

He was taking a risk bringing her here, he knew, but there was little real choice. This had to be done and now.

Hermione pointed her wand at Lyra who was barely standing on her feet alone and she knew to make this quick. "Patris Ostendum." She pronounced the spell out and Lyra began to glow faintly, a halo of green light around her. Her eyes were clamped shut, however, not wanting to see what the revelation would be.

The crowd watched not sure exactly how the spell would reveal who her father was. The name in the air? An announcement?

As they waited, the same green light began to shine around Rudolphus and Hermione looked up to Kingsley at that.

The Minister nodded to them all with a look of relief. "Lyra Lestrange."

His voice made Lyra jump a little and Neville was by her instantly to catch her when she stumbled. He was relieved himself and he found himself unable to contain it, kissing her cheek softly as he whispered to her. "Rudolphus is your father. Not Voldemort. There is no way you brought the Dark Lord back…"

Lyra let out a soft sigh at that, resting her head against his shoulder while he held her and Kingsley hit his gavel on the counter to get the attention of the court room back on track.

"Miss Lestrange, seeing as Rudolphus Lestrange is in fact your father and sentence to consecutive life sentences in Azkaban, you are the soul heir of the Lestrange family estate." He told her and Neville looked up to the Minister at that.

"And what does that mean for her, Minister?" Neville asked him and the Minister nodded to him and Harry approached them both, holding out a sleek Holly wand to Lyra who looked up slowly and questioningly before she reached to take her wand back from him.

"It means, Mr. Longbottom, that Lyra here is now heir to the Lestrange fortune. Her mother and father's vaults at Gringott's, their property that was seized by the Ministry of Magic. Miss Lestrange, you are a free witch in the eyes of this court and the Ministry." Kingsley told them and Neville couldn't help but smirk at that, but Lyra gently pulled away from him and stepped toward the Minister's podium, wand dangling in her fingers at her side.

"Thank you…" She told him gratefully, but held out her wand and gently laid it on the podium before him. "…but I don't want to be a witch anymore. I just want to go back to London."

Hermione worried her lip at that, looking to Neville who was standing there a bit astounded. After all this, she wanted to go home to London? To a false life?

Kingsley eyed her at that, not sure what was behind this decision, but he slowly nodded to her. "If that is your decision. Your fortune will remain in the bank then, Miss Lestrange, as well as the property titles should you change your mind. Neville, please escort Miss Lestrange home when she is ready."

Neville nodded to the Minister, feeling his blood running cold in his veins from shock. How could he have ever thought that she might stay with him? That she would want to be with him? He was such a fool.

Lyra stepped past him to the cage where her father was still being held and she eyed the man a moment slowly, taking in the look of him. It was one of the only times she had ever seen him in the flesh. She had never really seen much of either of her parents.

He eyed her as well.

"You know why you're a year younger than Longbottom, lovey? Because me and your mother screwed right after we tortured his parents. How's that grab you, Longbottom? Knowing your little piece of ass was made on the same night we got your parents…?" He chuckled and Neville gritted his teeth, only stopped from pulling his wand by Harry's hand on his arm.

Lyra took a deep breath at that, not sure how true it was, but she did not want to think about it. "When they put you back in Azkaban after questioning, I am going to forget you exist, do you understand that? I want nothing to do with you. I don't want your name. I don't want your fortune. I'm going to go back to my life and forget this all again."

He laughed at her at that. "Forget this? You can't forget this world, Lyra. It isn't like that. Change your name. Throw away your wand. But in the end you will always be tied to this world. You were scarred here…you don't forget scars."

Lyra let the words slide off of her and she eased her way around the cage, holding herself as she went and Neville followed after her slowly to make sure she was alright, but they both stopped when Rudolphus spoke again.

"How deeply did the Carrows scar you that night, lovey?" Rudolphus asked and though Lyra paused, she was soon walking to the door again and she disappeared out into the hall.

Neville went after her quickly, catching up to her without much difficulty as he came to her side. She was looking pale and he wondered if they should get back to the hospital so she could rest. "Lyra, we should-"

"How could you do this to me? You didn't say a damn thing about coming here today and HIM being here!" She was pissed and he could tell, but she was keeping her voice low to keep from straining her throat.

He tensed his jaw at that and sighed. "You never would have come…"

"You never bloody asked so don't assume how I would have reacted. Perhaps I would have wanted to know that that bastard was going to be here? I never wanted to see him again. I was happy to think that he was just as dead as my mother." She shot to him and he had to admit that he had been wrong in his decision.

"I was just trying to protect you, Lyra."

"I don't need you protecting me!" She groaned and leaned against the wall. "I want to go home."

"I can't let you go home until you're better. You know that." He explained, though he knew he was being a bit selfish himself. He did not feel to happy about her going back to London and back to that life. It was a horrible place for her to be.

"I don't care what you can or can not do, Neville. Take me home and I'll go to a doctor in London. I want aware from this world."

"You can't just run away, Lyra. It doesn't work like that. You're a witch whether you like it or not." He stepped to her, touching her arm lightly and she pulled back quickly, moving away from him.

"And there is nothing that says I have to live here and be a witch. I'm going back, Neville. Like it or not. Nothing is going to keep me here." She ran a hand up into her hair tiredly and Neville watched her movements, weighing his next words.

"Why did you kiss me on the Astronomy tower?" He asked and Lyra went white as a sheet then.

"W-what? I never did-"

"Liar. I remember. You Oblivated the memory, but it's coming back little by little. You kissed me that day…and then tried to play if off that you were yelling at me. Why?"

She was nervous then and he could tell. She shook a little and he helped her to a seat in the hall, glad they were alone.

"I…Neville, I had to. My mother wanted me to join with the Death Eaters…when she broke out of Azkaban, my uncle Lucius brought me to his house in the summer and my mother was there. They tried to convert me to the cause, but I told them I would think about it. I knew Snape was working with them as well, but that he was a good guy as well after he saved me. So I started to help him with things. Staying close so my mother would think I was on their side as well." She confessed and he listened quietly as he knelt on the floor as she spoke.

"I was scared she would hurt you if she knew that I was…interested in you…that she might try to kill you. I gave in that day when we kissed…but I knew I had to stop it as well…so I made you forget. I wanted you to hate me to keep you safe…"

Neville took a deep breath at that and then sighed heavily, shutting his eyes. "It worked…I hated you so much, Lyra…so strongly back then. I blamed you for what happened to my parents. I was convinced you were a Death Eater. And because of that, I did something terrible that night of the battle."

She looked to him at that, not sure what he was talking about.

He worried his lip, not sure how to put this. Convinced it would ruin any hope of a relationship with her, but the guilt had to come off his chest. "That year of school, you spent so much time with the Carrows, standing in the room and doing nothing while I took the Cruciatus for other students and you did nothing. I thought you were one of them. I was always waiting on you to join in and step up to the plate as a Death Eater. The night of the Battle of Hogwarts, I was near the Defense Against the Dark Arts room sweeping the castle when I heard screaming. I went to investigate and I saw you on the ground and Amycus Carrow was using the Cruciatus curse on you for being a traitor. I figured the Death Eaters were turning on each other…"

Lyra was silent as she listened, remembering back to that night in the castle as well with a shiver. What had he seen?

"I could have stopped them both. I was hidden in the hall, but instead…I watched. I watched them torture you and I felt justified for it. I felt justified for my parents. And then they started to kick you and hex you and I kept watching. Feeling better the more they did it. I left you to their mercy that night and went off to be a hero in my own right. I told everyone I saw Amycus kill you…I could have saved you that night…" He told her softly and she remained still and quiet above him.

He left her there to die…? And now he expected her to want to stay with him? Was he mental? She shook her head slowly. "Neville…I don't know what to say…" It certainly took a lot of courage to tell something like that…something he had kept hidden for all these years.

Letting out a soft sound she reached down and wrapped her arms around him and drew him close to his head was against her chest. "I forgive, Neville…" She told him softly and it seemed like a thousand years of tension eased away with the confession and the absolution. He wrapped his arms around her there in the dark hall outside the courtroom and he quietly cried.


	13. Chapter 13: The Boy and Girl who Lived

Chapter 13

_16 Old Sparrow's Landing_

_Six months later._

The green house was teeming with all sorts of flora that had sprung to life after the winter with the first warmth of spring. Lyra was up on the step stool trying in vain to get one of the sprinklers to turn on to water the Witch Hazel and Snapdragons, but it seemed stuck.

"Blasted thing…turn already!" She mumbled in frustration as she tapped on it with a wrench to try and get the knob to turn, but it did not seem to want to oblige until she was just about to blast it with her wand and suddenly the spray of water burst out, drenching her face and the green blouse she was wearing.

Groaning, she got down from the stool, reaching for a towel to brush off the water. Dabbing at the now lightened scar on her neck. It was another scar to add to her collection, but she didn't mind them so much. As Hermione had told her over tea last week, scars are a record of our strengths. To wear the scars she wore was a mark of survival, not weakness.

Smiling at the thought, she tossed the towel back over the bench and went to wash her hands in the sink, but paused when she was rinsing them when she heard her name being called from outside. She blinked and dried them before she stepped outside, hand moving to her wand slowly until she saw who it was.

Neville was all but grinning from ear to ear and skipping through the backyard toward the green house. She laughed at the sight, wondering what had him so excited and he came to a stop a few feet in front of her, looking a little troubled at the dampness of her clothing.

"What happened?" He chuckled lightly, brushing a stray wet lock of brown hair off her cheek.

She shrugged sheepishly. "The sprinklers were malfunctioning again. I fixed them though."

He smirked at that and leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "My handy girl. Maybe we should see about getting you a tool show. We could call it 'How to Beat Things Til They Work Properly.'"

She pushed him away playfully at that, crossing her arms as she stepped around him. "I just saved your Snapdragons, Neville Longbottom."

He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her body in a warm hug, pulling her back against him lightly. "And thank you very much, Miss Lestrange." He thought about that for a moment and kissed her shoulder. "Well, not Miss Lestrange for much longer."

She nodded to that lightly, looking down at her hand where he had given her his grandmother's engagement ring. Augusta had insisted on it when they had gone to visit her tree months ago and Lyra wasn't about to say no.

In fact, she did not really know which Augusta was more frightening, the one that sat staring and scrutinizing her over afternoon tea or the one that had been trying to kill her in Neville's office that day.

She leaned back against his body and relaxed a moment, looking up to see the clouds moving above them, growing heavy with rain for an afternoon shower. "What were you running out here so excited about anyway?" She finally asked and she got her answer when he pulled out a piece of parchment that looked oddly familiar, the wax seal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was already broken.

She looked at him curiously and took it, flipping it open to read.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mr. Longbottom,<em>

_I sincerely hope this letter finds you well and happy in your new home at Old Sparrow's Landing. I grew up there as a child myself and must say that it will be a fine place to live. I would also like to congratulate you on your recent article on the elusive Bloomspurt Palm in the Quibbler. Very well done._

_As to the business of this letter, I would like a meeting with you in my office on May 14 where we will discuss the arrangements of your office here as well as your taking over of the greenhouses and the aiding of teaching Herbology with Professor Sprout until her retiring ceremony at winter holidays._

_We look forward to many enjoyable and educational years with you at Hogwarts and are sure to not be disappointed in our selection. _

_With love and warm wishes,_

_Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

* * *

><p>"You got the job…" Lyra muttered in amazement and then grinned excitedly. Neville had talked about nothing more for the past month as he readied his application for Hogwarts and now here was the letter he had been waiting for. She turned in his arms and kissed him on the cheek and he chuckled, picking her up with his arms around her rear and twirled with her until she laughed and he set her down, kissing her again on the lips.<p>

"Are you happy?" He asked and she nodded to him.

"Of course I'm happy for you. This is what you want." She told him with a smile.

"Not mad about me leaving the Auror office?" He asked, worrying his lip and she shook her head, kissing the tip of his nose.

"That's your decision, but no, I'm not mad. I'm actually pretty happy with that…I worry when you go off on missions. I worry that you might get hurt…that you won't come back…" She whispered and he held her to his chest lightly.

"I'm always careful, Lyra, you know that. I'm always coming home to you at the end of the night." He told her and she smiled weakly to him. He sighed and pulled her up to look at him. "I know you're still scared from what happened…but I won't let anything like that ever happen to you again. Understand me? We will eventually catch Zabini and once he's in Azkaban things will be better."

She nodded to that and kissed him again softly again on the lips. "I know…it's just hard to not remember what happened sometimes…" She told him honestly and he pressed his forehead to hers.

"I know, love…" He whispered to her and moved a hand around from the small of her back to her stomach, feeling the tightness there and the soft swell under his fingers. "This is a new chapter in our lives, though. What happened in the past is always going to be there, but we have to keep moving on and enjoying life. There's so much ahead for us now, for all three of us."

-END-


	14. To be continued

To those who followed Lumos Obscurum, thank you! I will be continuing this story in the form of a new fanfiction titled Scars that is now up on my page. : ) Please read and enjoy. Thank you for reading and commenting!


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